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STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
JJY
WILLIAM HENRY LOCKE, A M.,
CHAPLAIN.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1868.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tlio year 1807, by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
In the Clerk s Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
.s
In compliance with current copyright
law, U. C. Library Bindery produced
this replacement volume on paper
that meets ANSI Standard Z39.48-
1984 to replace the irreparably
deteriorated original
1998
TO THE LIVING OF THE
OLD PENNSYLVANIA ELEVENTH,
AND TO THE
OF ITS MANY GALLANT DEAD,
THIS VOLUME
PREFACE.
THE first object sought in this volume is to put on
permanent record the deeds of a brave and noble regi
ment an effort that will be fully appreciated by its
numerous friends. The author also designs that it
should be a contribution to the general history of the
war. To secure such a history, the story of each sep
arate regiment must first be known.
The duties of the writer did not require him to carry
either sword or musket, and the story he here tells is
made up from a note-book never absent from him,
whether in camp or on the march. When the original
record sometimes made during a halt along the road
side, and sometimes in the midst of battle better tells
the story, that record is inserted, day and date.
Everything promising to throw light upon the cam
paigns of the Army of the Potomac has been carefully
read and freely used, in giving the reasons for certain
(v)
VI PREFACE.
movements and the ends to be secured. It was the
fortune of the Eleventh Regiment to be connected with
most of the principal operations of the army to which
it belonged. Enough of general information is there
fore given to form a continuous narrative of events ;
and to the ordinary reader perhaps the book will be
found to serve the place of a larger and more protend
ing history of the Army of the Potomac.
W. H. L.
PITTSBURG, October 1, 1867.
CONTENTS
I.
CHAPTER I.
Rebellion armed and defiant Call for troops Eleventh
Regiment organized 13
CHAPTER II.
The offensive Guarding the railroad Patterson on the
Upper Potomac March into Virginia Battle of Falling
Waters Pennsylvania s first killed Martinsburg 16
CHAPTER III.
McDowell and Patterson to co-operate Army delayed
The runaway slave Reconnoissance to Winchester
Charlestown Battle of Bull Run 26
II.
CHAPTER I.
The rebellion in a new phase Re-enlistment From citi
zen to soldier Filling up regiments Quarrel about the
number Governor s order Field and staff 35
CHAPTER II.
From Pennsylvania to Maryland Through Baltimore
Annapolis Northern arguments Master and slave 42
(vii)
Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
Side issues of the conflict The iron-clad Merrimac The
subdued domestic Washington Review by the Presi
dent 51
CHAPTER IV.
From Maryland to Virginia Manassas Midnight alarm
Clerical captive 57
CHAPTER V.
Manassas and environs Bull Run battle-field White
Plains Absconding darkies 65
CHAPTER VI.
Marching southward Hartsuff s Brigade Falmouth Mc
Dowell s Corps Fredericksburg A night march Alex
andria Pursuit of Jackson Front Royal Belle Boyd
Escape 72
III.
CHAPTER I.
Pope s campaign Warrenton Waterloo Arrival of Pope
Review Army of Virginia Culpepper Battle of Ce
dar Mountain Advance to the Rapidan 82
CHAPTER II.
An opportune capture Retreat to the Rappahannock
Culpepper greetings Fight at Rappahannock Station... 93
CHAPTER III.
Pope retreating northward Company G Battle of Tho
roughfare Gap Hospital at Manassas 100
CHAPTER IV.
Second Bull Run Porter disobeys orders Longstreet
unites with Jackson Division on the left Losses in the
Eleventh Retreat to Centerville Battle of Chantilly
Within the fortifications Pope and McDowell IOC
CONTENTS. IX
IV.
CHAPTER I.
Hall s Hill Colonel Martin Maj. Frink Colonel Fletcher
Webster Invasion of Maryland McClellnn Feeling of
troops March through Washington Recruits from Har-
risburg Battle of South Mountain 115
CHAPTER II.
McClellan and Lee on Upper Potomac Rebel chaplain
Keedysville Battle of Antietam HartsuiFs Brigade
Fighting on the right Scenes in hospital Antietam
after the battle 123
CHAPTER III.
Army in repose Walnut Grove camp Foraging for the
mess Louisiana vs. Virginia Sermon in camp 134
CHAPTER IV.
Tent life in Maryland Night experiences Stuart s cav
alry raid Dreams and visions 146
V.
CHAPTER I.
McClellan superseded by Burnside Feeling in the army
Campaign begun On the Rappahannock Bombard
ment of Fredericksburg Across the river 152
CHAPTER II.
Fredericksburg Night before the battle December 13th
Operations on the left Pollock s house Burying the
dead 161
CHAPTER III.
After the battle Wounded in Washington Excitement in
the city Burnside Camp near Fletcher Chapel Notes
from diary Virginia schoolmaster Northern claim on
Virginia 168
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Burnside to cross the Rappahannock Troops in motion
Winter storm Army in the mud
VI.
CHAPTER I.
Burnside gives place to Hooker Organized desertion -A
new bill of fare Army kept employed Improved con
dition of the troops Preparations to march 184
CHAPTER II.
Chancellorville campaign First Corps on the left Into
the Wilderness Jackson s flank attack Death of Jack
son First Corps on the right Retreat from the Wilder
ness.... ,. 193
CHAPTER III.
After the battle of Chancellorville Feeling among the
troops Revelations of old letters Division reorgan
ized General Baxter Marching northward Across
Manassas plains 205
CHAPTER IV.
Hooker and Lee Moseby Parting with Virginia First
Corps at Emmettsburg 215
VII.
CHAPTER I.
Hooker displaced by Meade Impression on the Army
Enemy in front of Gettysburg First day of July Rebels
quartered in the town 223
CHAPTER II.
Armies concentrated at Gettysburg Second day of July
Third day of July July Fourth 233
CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER III.
Gettysburg under rebel rule A rampant quartermaster
First Corps on Cemetery Hill Pickett s charge A bold
pioneer 240
CHAPTER IV.
Retreat and pursuit Bulletins of victory Vandals The
lost found Lee across the Potomac 247
CHAPTER V.
Marching through Loudon Valley Battle-field of An-
tietam An unamiable lady Fording Goose Creek
White Plains Bealton Station Fight at Brandy Station
Eleventh on Hartsuff s knoll 255
CHAPTER VI.
Occupying the line of the Rapidan Substitutes Raccoon
Ford Execution of a deserter Reading the enemy s
signals Kelly s Ford Raid on the sutlers Retreat to
Centerville Mysterious movements 267
CHAPTER VII.
From the Rapidan to Centerville First Corps at Bristow
Bull Run Reprieved deserter Bull Run battle-field
Detected conscript Thoroughfare Gap Camp rumors.. 277
CHAPTER VIII.
Back to the Rappahannock Eleventh at Morrisville
Across the river Bivouac on Auburn farm Alarm
Camp near Liberty Guerrillas Adventures of the
wounded An outside patient 288
CHAPTER IX.
Mine Run Campaign South of the Rapidan In position
on Mine Run Marching back Short rations Kelly s
Ford 303
CHAPTER X.
Another campaign completed Faith of the army Re-
enlisting Veteran furlough 314
Xll CONTENTS.
VIII.
CHAPTER I.
Lieutenant -General U. S. Grant Furlough ended Promo
tions Farewell to First Corps Campaign begun Bat
tle of the Wilderness Longstreet on the left llebel
successes on the right Race for Spottsylvania Death
of Major Keenan 318
CHAPTER II.
In front of Spottsylvania Laurel Hill Moving to the left
Grant marching southward On the North Anna
Chickahominy Bethesda Church Cold Harbor Harri
son s Landing 334
CHAPTER III.
South of the James In front of Petersburg Mine explo
sion Fight for the W r eldon Railroad 351
CHAPTER IV.
Advances and retrogrades Changes in the Eleventh
Hicksford raid Burning ties Successful ambush In
camp 362
CHAPTER V.
Extending the left to Hatcher s Run Consolidation of
Eleventh and Ninetieth Opening of the campaign
Battle of Hatcher s Run 371
CHAPTER VI.
Final Concentration Army incredulous Boydton plank-
road Reinforcing Sheridan 379
CHAPTER VII.
Fifth Corps with Sheridan Getting into position Battle
of Five Forks Captures and losses.... 386
CHAPTER VIII.
Last march of the Fifth Corps General Warren relieved
of command Bivouac at Deep Creek Appomattox
Court House Lee surrenders 391
CHAPTER IX.
Homeward bound Through Richmond Across the Penin
sula Hall s Hill Grand review Army disbanded
Harrisburg Eleventh Regiment living and dead Knd.. 398
STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
I.
CHAPTER I.
REBELLION ARMED AND DEFIANT.
THE roar of Sumter s guns, as it rolled north
ward along the Atlantic coast, and westward
across the prairies, awakened the nation from its
peaceful dream of half a century, to the startling
reality of armed and defiant Rebellion.
A dissolution of the Federal Union, at first
darkly hinted, and afterward openly avowed,
toward the close of the year 1860 became a fixed
purpose with leading Southern statesmen, a
purpose to which they gave masterly energies,
entailing upon the country four years of calam
itous war.
Following close upon the surrender of Fort
Sumter, came the call from Washington, not
less startling than the report of the first cannon
shot, for volunteers to defend the rightful au
thority of the Government. Every Northern
State sent back the same enthusiastic response.
2 (13)
14 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Party lines were obliterated, and political differ
ences forgotten in the common danger. Cities
and towns and villages rivaled each other in
their patriotic offers of men and means. It was
the uprising of an indignant and insulted people.
The South had taken the sword ; and though re
luctant to begin the strife, the North accepted
the issue.
The State capital became the military rendez
vous of Pennsylvania ; and to Harrisburg her
sons hastened, from their farms and their work
shops; from offices and stores and counting-
rooms. Eapidly as the troops arrived they were
organized into regiments and sent to the front,
each regiment distinguished by the number that
marked the order of its organization.
One week later than the President s call for
troops, ten companies, representing six different
counties, and containing in all nearly a thousand
men, were united and formed into the Eleventh
Regiment. Co. A, Captain J. C. Dodge, Co. D,
Captain W. B. Schott, and Co. G, Captain J. K
Bowman, represented Lycoming County; Co. B,
Captain Phaen Jarrett, and Co. C, Captain H.
M. Bossert, Clinton County; Co. E, Captain John
B. Johnson, Luzerne County; Co. F, Captain C.
J. Bruuner, Northumberland County; Co. H,
Captain "W. M. McLure, Montour County; Co.
I, Captain Richard Coulter, and Co. K, Captain
W. B. Coulter, Westmoreland County. These
ORGANIZATION COMPLETED. 15
brave men, meeting as strangers, but drawn to
gether by the same noble impulse of love of
country, were now united, for life or for death,
in strong and enduring bonds.
The election for field officers that followed this
union of companies resulted in the choice of
Captain Phaen Jarrett for Colonel; Captain
Richard Coulter, Lieutenant-Colonel; and W.
D. Earnest, Major. To complete the regimental
organization, Lieutenant A. F. Aul was appointed
Adjutant; W. H. Hay, Quartermaster; Dr. W. F.
Babb, Surgeon, and H. B. Beuhler, Assistant
Surgeon.
The ELEVENTH REGIMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA
VOLUNTEERS was thenceforth a corporeal re
ality. From the 23d of April, 1861, to the sur
render of General Lee at Appomattox Court
House, the history of the U 01d Eleventh" so
designated to distinguish it from the Eleventh
Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps
is the history, in part, of all the grand move
ments of the Army of the Potomac.
16 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER H.
NATIONAL FORCES TAKE THE OFFENSIVE.
THE secession of Virginia, on the 17th day of
April, made the National Capital the main point
to he defended ; and to Washington each State
sent its first available troops. But the Govern
ment soon discovered that there were other ene
mies to provide against than those openly in arms
in Virginia. Traitors walked abroad in the guise
of peaceful citizens ; and since the wanton attack
upon the troops passing through Baltimore, and
the destruction of the railroads leading to that
city, all the lines of travel communicating with
Washington were closely guarded.
Three days after its organization, by order of
General Patterson, commanding the Department
of Pennsylvania, the Eleventh Regiment, then
at Camp Wayne, West Chester, was assigned to
duty on the Baltimore and Wilmington Railroad,
occupying the territory between Havre de Grace
and Elkton. The instructions issued to Colonel
Jarrett, defining the nature of the service re
quired of his regiment, indicated, even at that
early day, the conciliatory spirit that ever ani
mated the Government throughout the entire
rebellion.
GUARDING THE RAILROAD. 17
" The Major-General understands that along
the line of railway placed under your charge, and
more particularly in the neighborhood of New
ark, inoffensive citizens have been molested by
the troops lately removed. He wishes you to in
struct your men that this must not be ; and that
the object of being where you are is to make
friends of the inhabitants, and not enemies. * *
You will instruct the officers stationed at New
ark to be careful to allay the angry feeling which
has been excited at that point."
The railroad was well guarded; and without
any compromise of integrity, the other object
making friends of the inhabitants along the line
was also secured. At Havre de Grace, Cos. A
and B, and Co. K at Newark where persons
had been arrested on idle and ill-founded charges
were made the recipients of the confidence and
good will of the citizens, expressed in the most
substantial manner.
Into the brief hours of those unusual days
were crowded events for whose maturity a quar
ter of a century had been necessary. Harper s
Ferry, evacuated by the Federal troops in the
evening, was occupied next morning by a large
rebel force that marched down the Shenandoah
Valley, under command of General J. E. John
son. An attack upon Washington, by way of
Alexandria, was hourly expected ; and the ap
pearance of the enemy at Harper s Ferry and
9*
18 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
along the banks of the Upper Potomac, looked
as though an attempt was to be made to invest
the city by overrunning the borders of Maryland
and Pennsylvania.
"With something of the spirit that character
ized later army movements, all the troops that
could be spared from the actual defense of Wash
ington were placed under command of General
Patterson, and hastened to the border. The
Eleventh Regiment, relieved of guard duty on
the railroad, and marching by way of Baltimore
and Washington, reported to the commanding
general at Hagerstown, and was assigned to
Colonel Abercrombie s Brigade of Keinrs Di
vision.
The army of General Patterson, as it was the
largest single column acting against the enemy,
was an object of national interest. It was pre
paring to march against twenty thousand rebels,
whose leader expressed a determination to hold
Harper s Ferry at all hazard, as the key of the
Shenandoah Valley. General Scott counseled
Patterson that it would not be enough simply to
sustain no reverse. " A check, or a drawn bat
tle, would be a victory to the enemy, tilling his
heart with joy, his ranks with men, and his mag
azines with voluntary contributions," telegraphed
the veteran commander at the moment the troops
took their first forward step.
Filing out from the numerous camps around
PATTERSON OX THE UPPER POTOMAC. 19
Hagerstown, with the rising of the sun of June
1st all the brigades and divisions of Patterson s
column were moving in splendid order toward
the Potomac. The army thus marching to the at
tack of Harper s Ferry, embraced within itself
names since become of household familiarity in
the military records of the nation. Major-Gen
eral Burnside was then known as Colonel Burn-
side, in command of a Rhode Island regiment ;
Major-General George li. Thomas was simply
Colonel Thomas, commanding a brigade in Keim s
Division ; Major-General John j^ewton was only
Captain Newton, of the Engineer Corps.
The rebel general did not wait for the near
approach of Patterson s forces. Drawing in the
two regiments of Texan riflemen that picketed
the Potomac as far up as Sheppardstown, the day
after our movement began Harper s Ferry was
evacuated, Johnson falling back to Martinsburg.
The unexpected retreat of the enemy was re
ceived with demonstrations of delight. It was
regarded as an omen of good, promising a suc
cessful issue to all succeeding undertakings.
Full of confident enthusiasm, the pursuit of
Johnson was commenced the following morning.
Seven or eight thousand troops had already
crossed into Virginia, and were marching down
the south bank of the Potomac, when a sudden
halt was ordered by a telegram from Washing
ton, announcing that the city was threatened
20 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
from the direction of Alexandria, and calling on
Patterson for immediate reinforcements.
The troops required by General Scott left the
army on the Upper Potomac without either ar
tillery or cavalry, and so greatly reduced in the
number of its effective men as to make a further
advance impossible. The regiments that had
crossed the river were recalled; and a movement,
that at the first promised the most complete suc
cess, ended in days of wearisome inaction as
full of monotony to the soldier, as they were of
impatience to the entire ]STorth.
Meanwhile the rebels, reassuring their cour
age at Patterson s unavoidable delay, again ap
proached the Potomac. Scouts reported that a
large Confederate force occupied the country
between Dam No. 4 and Sheppardstown, under
command of Stonewall Jackson ; and that John
son was at Bunker Hill, with a reserve of not
less than five thousand men.
Toward the latter part of June, a battery of
six guns and a small force of cavalry having been
sent to him, General Patterson prepared to re
sume his forward movement. A reconnoissance
in force was to be made into Virginia, the troops
moving in two separate columns. The Sixth
Brigade, Colonel Abercrombie, under the guid
ance of Captain John Newton, of the Engineer
Corps, was to cross the river near Dam No. 4,
supported by the First Brigade, Colonel Thomas,
MARCH INTO VIRGINIA. 21
and four pieces of artillery. The Second and
Fifth Brigades, Generals Wynkoop and Negley,
were to remain within striking distance of Aber-
crombie and Thomas. These troops constituted
the first column, under command of Major-Gen
eral Keim. The second column consisted of
the Third and Fourth Brigades, a squadron of
cavalry, and one section of Perkin s Battery,
under Major-General Cadwallader. The second
column was to cross at Williamsport.
The night preceding the contemplated move
ment, Lieutenant-Colonel Coulter and thirty men
of the Eleventh Regiment, were detailed to ex-
O
plore the fordings of the river near the proposed
place of passage for the first column. Marching
quietly down the left bank, their movements
concealed from the enemy s pickets by the in
tense darkness and the heavy falling rain, the
exploring party carefully surveyed the river,
crossing and recrossing at several different points.
Everywhere high water rendered the fordings
impassable.
It was then decided to cross the entire force at
Williamsport in the following order: Colonel
Abercrornbie s Brigade, with one section of ar
tillery and a squadron of cavalry. Colonel
Thomas s Brigade, with one company of cavalry
and two pieces of artillery. General 2s"egley s
Brigade, with one section of artillery and a com
pany of cavalry, forming General Keim s Divi-
22 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
sion. General Cad wall ader s Division was to
follow close in the rear.
One clay was lost by the change in the order
of march. But early on the morning of July 2d
the army was in motion. An advance guard of
one hundred and fifty men of the Eleventh, and
McMullin s Philadelphia Rangers, was thrown
across the river to carry the fording. A small
rebel force, stationed on the Virginia shore to
watch our movements, received the vanguard
with a brisk, though entirely harmless, volley of
musketry. Nothing daunted by a reception so
purely Southern in all its characteristics, our men
continued to advance, and the enemy retiring
from the river, the army crossed the Potomac
without further opposition.
The first column marched southward along the
main road, except Negley s Brigade, that di
verged to the right, a short distance from the
river, to protect our flank. The smooth pike
leading to Martinsburghad not then received the
impress of a tramping army; nor were the green
fields, on either side of it, transformed into fields
of blood and carnage. Yet there was a sound
of battle in the air. Skirmishers were kept
thrown out well to the front, and an occasional
rebel vedette could be seen, falling slowly back
before our cautious advance.
Six miles from Williamsport, toward the mid
dle of the forenoon, the army reached Falling
BATTLE OF FALLING WATERS. 23
Waters. Broad acres of wheat flanked the road
right and left, and on a slight elevation in front
stood the residence of the proprietor. At the
moment of advancing through a skirt of woods,
and in turning a short angle in the road, our
skirmish line suddenly developed a force of the
enemy posted in a clump of trees, while the main
body of the Confederates appeared in sight, shel
tered behind breastworks of fence rails and fallen
timber. It was the Brigade of Stonewall Jackson
by which we were thus confronted, since cele
brated as the " Stonewall Brigde," consisting of
the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Twenty-seventh
Virginia Regiments, J. E. B. Stuart s cavalry
regiment, and Captain Pendleton s battery of
four guns.
The disposition of the Federal troops was quick
and judicious. Abercrombie deployed the Elev
enth Pennsylvania and First Wisconsin to the
right and left of the pike. Hudson s battery,
supported by McMullin s Rangers, was placed in
the middle of the road, and a general advance
ordered against the rapid fire of the rebels, drawn
up in battle-line behind Porterfield s house. With
shouts and cheers, that ran along the whole col
umn of troops hurrying forward at the sound of
cannon, the leading brigade obeyed the word of
command.
The enemy s artillery was admirably posted to
sweep the Martinsburg pike ; but, fortunately,
i24 STORY OP THE REGIMENT.
Pendleton s range was too high, and the shot
passed harmlessly overhead. While thus engag
ing the rebel infantry and artillery in front,
Stuart brought up his cavalry, and riding swiftly
from the opposite direction, was seen to make
threatening demonstrations on the right of the
Eleventh. Repulsing two separate efforts on the
part of Stuart to charge our line, Colonel Jarrett
detached Cos. A, B, and C as skirmishers, to
take the cavalry on the flank ; while the left
wing of the regiment was pushed forward to
turn the rebel cannon planted in the middle of
the road.
The unusual excitement of battle now extended
to the remotest file of the army, and footmen and
horse were pressing with eager haste toward the
front. Thomas s Brigade, marching behind Aber-
crombie, and the next to reach the ground, quit
ting the pike, and moving in compact lines
through the fields, extended its right toward the
enemy s left flank. Closely pressed by Aber-
crombie in front, and threatened on the left by
Thomas, further resistance was useless ; and after
a spiteful encounter of nearly an hour, Jackson
reluctantly abandoned the field.
The purple tide, that has since reached its
flood height, has effaced almost every mark of
the battle of Falling Waters. Yet the features
of war are ever the same. Those fields of wheat,
just ripe for the harvest, were trodden down and
OCCUPATION OF MARTINSBURG. 25
destroyed. The elegant farm-house, whose white
front could be seen through overhanging trees
and climbing vines, was shattered by artillery,
and the peaceful scene of rural felicity marred
and ruined.
Stonewall Jackson s first engagement with our
troops did not promise the success of later ex
ploits. Eight of his dead were left unburied on
the field, and a large number are known to have
been wounded. The Union loss was two killed
and fifteen wounded. Of these the Eleventh lost
Amos Sappinger, Co. H, killed. Wounded
William Hannaker, Co. B ; James Morgan, D.
Stiles, Nelson Headen, Co. E ; Christian Shawl,
Co. F ; Russel Levan, John De Hass, Co. G ;
John Reed, Wm. G. Kuhns, Co. K.
Amos Sappinger was Pennsylvania s first life
offering on the battle-field, in the war for the
Union. He deserves a more enduring monument
than these pages.
The pursuit of the retreating foe was kept up
as far as Hainesville, four miles from Martins-
burg, where the army bivouacked for the night.
Resuming the march with the earliest dawn of
next day, on the 3d of July Patterson occupied
Martinsburg, Stonewall Jackson falling back on
the reserve force at Bunker Hill.
26 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER in.
MCDOWELL AND PATTERSON TO CO-OPERATE.
THE duty first assigned to General Patterson
was the capture of Harper s Ferry. 2s"ow he had
another and more important task to perform. A
column from Washington, under command of
General McDowell, was to move against the rebel
army concentrated at Manassas Junction ; and
Patterson was to co-operate with that column
either by directly attacking Johnson at Win
chester, or by threats and a well sustained show
of opposition, prevent him from leaving the Val
ley to reinforce Beauregard.
The term of service for which the three months
troops had volunteered would soon expire. An
ticipating an easy victory, and regarding the
whole aftair very much in the light of a holiday
excursion, every man was greatly solicitous that
before returning home, his regiment should be
brought into actual conflict with the insurgents.
But there was a serious delay of several days
at Martinsburg. The rebels had utterly destroyed
the railroad from thence to Harper s Ferry, leav
ing behind them, in their retreat from the town,
nothing but the smouldering ruins of the spa-
ARMY DELAYED. 27
cious depot and the charred remains of forty-
eight locomotives. Xo reliance could be placed
on foraging from the adjacent country, as the
hungry Southerner had already eat it bare.
The Quartermaster s Department did not know
how to provide for an army of eighteen thousand
men as expeditiously as in later days. Wagons
were scarce, and as all the supplies for Patterson s
troops were hauled from Williamsport, to collect
rations for more than two days in advance was
next to impossible.
On the 8th of July orders were issued to the
army for an advance on Winchester early next
morning. But before midnight, and in the midst
of active preparations by each regiment and
brigade for the expected movement, the order
was countermanded. A part of the reinforce
ments arrived on that day was reported unable,
without rest, to bear the fatigues of a further
march, and be in proper condition to meet the
enemy.
In consultation with some of his principal offi
cers, General Patterson found decided opposi
tion to the advance on Winchester; and before
renewing the order to march, a council was called,
composed of the division and brigade command
ers, the officers of the engineers, and the chiefs
of the departments of transportation and supply.
There was great unanimity of opinion that the
army was on a false line ; that it could more
28 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
certainly hold Johnson at Winchester, and co
operate with McDowell at Manassas, by taking a
position at Charlestown, than by remaining at
Martinsburg, or advancing further down the
Valley.
As a result of this council, the abandoned
picket lines around Martiusburg were again es
tablished ; and officers who did not spend their
evenings at the gay mansion of minister Faulk
ner, enjoying the polite society of his accom
plished wife and daughters, detailing to them all
the probable movements of the Federal army
only to be faithfully reported to the rebel com
mander went about discharging the duties as
signed to them.
Every one coming into Martinsburg from the
direction of Bunker Hill or Winchester, supposed
to be able to give any information respecting the
movements of the enemy, was at once taken be
fore General Patterson. Our pickets were fa
miliar with this custom, and when they arrested
the runaway slave of Mr. Byerly, living at Darks-
ville, some distance beyond Bunker Hill, they
knew that he would be welcome at army head
quarters.
The colored man had not yet arrived to the es
tate of a contraband ; but his information was
always regarded as more reliable than that of any
other. If he sometimes told more than he knew,
the fact was no disparagement to the negro. It
THE RUNAWAY SLAVE. 29
only proved that in one point at least he was very
much like his white master.
All the knowledge possessed by the slave was
soon imparted. Johnson and Jackson often came
to his master s house. He had heard them say
that the principal part of the Southern force was
at Winchester, throwing up intrenchments in ex
pectation that the Yankees were coming ; and
that many of the colored people had been sent
there to help on the work. Jackson was at Bunker
Hill, with Colonel Stuart and Captain Pendleton.
He knew these officers, because they often visited
at his master s house.
" Did you ever hear your master say how many
soldiers Johnson has?"
." !N"o, sah; but he always shakes his head when
he talks about it, and says : ; jist let de Yankees
come on!"
The colored man s face was turned toward the
Potomac, and when the general and his staff had
ceased to question him, he begged to be permit
ted to pursue his journey. But in reward for re
vealing what he knew, he was sent to the guard
house, and confined as a runaway slave.
"How did you get off at last, George?" we
asked of him a year or two later, in the interior
of Pennsylvania.
"Well, sah, dey kept me in de guard-house
until de army moved to Bunker Hill. Den I got
away from de guard, and went right back to my
3*
30 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
ole massa. I was afeard ob de Yankees after
dat, and when dey come again into de Valley I
staid close at home. But one mornin , jist about
daylight, your army begin to come back along de
road from Winchester, marchin very fast. My
ole massa rubbed his hands and shook his head.
I know d it, says he; Jackson is arter Banks,
and he ll cotch him yit.
" I watch d em comin back for two or three
hours ; and I seed among de wagons an de hos-
men a good many colored people dat I know d.
Den I says to my wife : i Mary, I feel as if I
ought to go too. Jist do as you like, George,
says she; but don t forgit to come back arter
me. Ole massa was settin out on de poach ; so
I goes down behind de barn and up through de
orchard. If I could only git through de orchard,
den I know d I would be out ob sight. But it
seemed as if I d never git to de top ob de hill ;
my feet felt so heavy I couldn t run. Bime-by
I got out to de road among de soldiers, den safe
across de Potomac, and at last into Pennsyl-
vany. Arter awhile I goes back for Mary. Some
body told massa I was in de neighborhood, and
he watched all night wid a gun to shoot me when
I come round de house. But Mary got away
safe too, and now I spect we ll jist stay whar we
is."
The movement from Washington, under Gen
eral McDowell, was to commence on the 16th of
RECONNOISSANCE TO WINCHESTER. 31
July. To keep up a threatening attitude in front
of Johnson, and by every possible means retain
him in the Valley, on the day preceding that date
General Patterson advanced his entire force from
Marti nsburg to Bunker Hill.
Despite the example of the Faulkners, and
others of like sympathies, there was a strong
Union sentiment in Marti nsburg; and when the
army left the town on that fair summer morning,
the Eleventh Pennsylvania Regiment and the
First Wisconsin each carried a beautiful national
flag, the gift of the loyal ladies of the place, in
acknowledgment of our first victory over the
rebel forces at Falling Waters.
The ashes of Jackson s camp fires were still
warm and smouldering as our troops stacked
arms on the ground recently occupied by the
Southrons, and bivouacked for the night. 2s"ext
day Gen. Patterson made a reconnoissauce from
Bunker Hill toward Winchester. The roads were
strongly barricaded at every available point, caus
ing frequent halts to remove the trees that had
been felled across the highway, and to fill up the
ditches, with which Johnson hoped to impede the
passage of artillery. Four miles from Winches
ter the column came to a final halt. The enemy
occupied the town in large numbers, and with
out waiting for him to come out from his in-
trenchments, Patterson returned to Bunker Hill.
The same day General McDowell began his
32 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
movement against Manassas. On the 17th, Gen
eral Scott telegraphed to Patterson that Mc
Dowell s first day s work had driven the enemy
beyond Fairfax Court House, and that in all prob
ability Manassas Junction would be carried on
the following morning.
Up to that time, General Patterson had im
plicitly obeyed the orders of his superior officer.
Feeling himself unable to attack the rebel gen
eral in his strong position, by a well-maintained
show of opposition, Johnson was kept in his
front, and could not reach Manassas, even if dis
posed to move in that direction, in less than three
days. There was no longer any seeming occa
sion for keeping his troops on a false line, or of
maintaining communications running through a
country in active sympathy with the rebellion,
and at any moment liable to interruption ; and
on the morning of July 17th Patterson retired
from Bunker Hill to Charlestown.
From the fording of the Potomac at Williams-
port to Bunker Hill, the enemy had retired be
fore us ; and when the troops began to move on
that Wednesday morning, ignorant of the plans
of the commander, a battle in front of Winches
ter was not only desired, but confidently expected
by the rank and file of the Federal army. The
first five or six miles of the march looked as
though we were threatening to fall on the enemy s
right flank, but toward noon the column changed
OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTOWN. 33
front, and moved in the direction of Charlestown.
From Bunker Hill to Winchester is thirteen
m iles from Charlestown to Winchester is twenty
miles; and without knowing the relative geo
graphical positions of the different places, the sol
diers looked upon the movement as a retreat
without a pursuing foe. Murmurs of discontent,
audible to every ear, ran along the line, and the
reproach visited upon the commanding general
was without stint or measure.
The Army of the Upper Potomac presented a
woe-begone appearance on its arrival at Charles-
town. The vanguard that entered the place
might well have been taken for the ghosts of
John Brown s raiders, had they carried pikes in
their hands instead of bristling muskets. Entire
regiments were without shoes and without coats,
while the nether garments of many of the men
were out at the knees and out at the seat, flaunt
ing their shoddy fragments in the breeze, or else
presenting the rents closed up with patches of
canvas torn from dilapidated tents.
The Federal occupation of Charlestown broke
up the innocent business of a band of secession
militia, engaged in pressing into the rebel ser
vice the young men of the surrounding district.
It also had the good effect of sending many of
its principal citizens on a reluctant pilgrimage
further South. From this securer base, and on
a line far more advantageous as it was supposed,
34 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
General Patterson began at once active prepara
tions to attack Winchester.
In one week the terra of enlistment of eigh
teen regiments full three-fourths of the army
would expire. An appeal was made to the
troops to remain ten days longer, and from the
spirit thus far manifested by them, a hearty re
sponse was anticipated. But the men had become
dissatisfied, and only three Pennsylvania regi
ments the "Eleventh, the Fifteenth, and the
Twenty-fourth declared their willingness to stay.
Patterson was now powerless to do anything, and
the army lay idle at Charlestown awaiting orders
from Washington.
While these delays and disappointments in the
Army of the Upper Potomac were causing heart
burnings and bitter criminations, the nation was
nearing the first great calamity of the war. Mc
Dowell did not carry Manassas Junction on the
18th of July, as General Scott had so confidently
expected ; and the battle of Bull Run was not
fought until the 21st. Meanwhile, in answer to
an urgent call from the rebel government to
hasten to the assistance of Beauregard, Johnson
quietly withdrew his forces from Winchester,
and marching toward Manassas, arrived on the
afternoon of the engagement at the moment to
turn the tide of battle, and change what prom
ised a victory to the Federal arms into defeat and
disastrous rout.
II.
CHAPTER I.
THE REBELLION IN A NEW PHASE.
THE rebellion assumed a different shape in the
eyes of the country after the battle of Bull Run.
The huge proportions to which it afterward
grew, began then to be distinctly foreshadowed.
Its leaders, flushed with victory, and expecting a
speedy conquest of the North, did not hesitate
to reveal, undisguised, the spirit of prejudice
and hate that conceived and inaugurated the
whole secession movement.
The three months campaign accomplished
comparatively little ; and closing with the defeat
of Bull Run, seemed scarcely anything else than
a total failure. Yet there was no abatement in
the enthusiasm of the people ; and nowhere was
this enthusiasm greater than among the men who
had passed through this first campaign. Whole
regiments, with hardly any change in their or
ganization, re-enlisted for the long term of three
years, or during the war.
On the 24th of July, the Eleventh Regiment
( 35 )
36 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
left Harper s Ferry for Baltimore, en route for
Harrisburg, where the men were mustered out
of service. General Patterson s order for trans
portation was accompanied by a commendation
of the regiment, carefully preserved among its
papers.
"It gives the commanding general great satis
faction to say, that the conduct of this regiment
has merited his highest approbation. It had the
fortune to be in the advance at Falling Waters,
where the steadiness and gallantry of both officers
and men came under his personal observation.
They have well merited his thanks."
Before the first term of enlistment had alto
gether expired, steps were taken to reorganize
the Eleventh for the three years service. Colonel
Jarrett submitted to General Patterson a com
plete regimental organization, headed by the
name of Richard Coulter, as Colonel. The rec
ommendations were heartily indorsed by the
general, and referred to Governor Curtin for
commissions.
Under date of July 25th, Simon Cameron,
Secretary of War, telegraphed to Colonel Coulter
that his regiment was accepted for the long term
of service. A few days later, the colonel was
directed, by the same authority, to enter his men
in Camp Curtin and hold them ready for march
ing orders, leaving an officer behind to recruit
the several companies to the maximum standard.
FROM CITIZEN TO SOLDIER. 37
With the many hands into which it was divided,
it was only the work of a moment to transform
the peaceful citizen into a soldier, of martial
look and mien. Finely polished boots were ex
changed for a pair of substantial brogans, often
without finish, and oftener without fit. Panta
loons of sable black, or demure brown, or sprightly
gray, gave place to a pair of unmixed blue. The
head that supported a luxuriant growth of chest
nut curls, and nodded gracefully under a shining
beaver, first closely shorn of all capillary super
fluities, was incased in a cap of the smallest pat
tern ; while a blue coat, with an economically
short tail, took the place of the neatly fitting
frock.
When the quiet citizen, thus attired, had a
knapsack strapped upon his back, and a haver
sack thrown across his shoulders, with gun, can
teen, and cartridge box, the transformation was
complete. He was thenceforth prepared to enter
upon a mode of life, as different from his former
self, as though he had entirely changed his per
sonal identity.
Early in the month of August, Co. B, under
command of Captain William Shanks, arrived at
Camp Curtin. To this first company others were
quickly added; and by the 1st of September,
the regiment might, have gone to the front with
its full complement of men.
In those days of intense excitement, twenty-
4
38 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
four hours in camp reached the limit of any one s
patfence. Officers and men were alike clamorous
to be sent to Washington, or anywhere else out of
the State that danger threatened. Each one acted
as though in fear that the rebellion might be
crushed, and the war closed up, without giving
him an opportunity of striking a single blow for
the Union.
Perhaps it was well for the Cause that it could
not then be known how- much of the dark and
angry-looking war-cloud, that appeared above the
Southern horizon, hung below concealed from
human eyes.
At no time, from August to November, were
there less than five to ten thousand men in camp.
But the work of assigning to regiments the in
numerable squads and companies into which the
number was divided, was a slow process ; too
slow, indeed, for the active spirits with which the
State authorities had to deal. As a result, regi
mental officers took the matter of filling up their
commands into their own hands; and as men
were in demand, not he who knew most of
Jomini s Art of War, or Cassey s Tactics, but
that one who could bring with him the largest
force of recruits, might secure any position from
a field officer down through all the grades to a
second lieutenant.
Then, again, some valiant captain, anxious to
have his favorite doctor or parson transformed
FILLING UP REGIMENTS. 39
into a surgeon or a chaplain, or his patriotic friend
made quartermaster or sutler, in consideration
of one or the other of these positions, would
agree to transfer his company to the regiment
where such a place could be secured. Patriot
ism had gone up beyond fever heat ; and the ex
cessive desire to be among the foremost of the
country s defenders must apologize for all ques
tionable practices. Especially as it happened,
that when the times came that tried men as
come they did the unfit stepped aside, and the
right men gravitated into the right places.
Though among the first of the three months
troops to be accepted for the long term of en
listment, and by the 4th of August sent its
first recruits into camp, the Eleventh did not
leave the State until late in November. The au
thorities at Harrisburg shared somewhat in the
feelings of the citizen-soldiers. There was a pos
sibility that the work of putting down the rebel
lion would not require all the men called into
service, and that each regiment might alike enjoy
the fame to be achieved in actual conflict with
the rebels, four companies, at several different
times, were taken from the Eleventh, and given
to other regiments that had exhausted all their
resources for recruiting, and still remained below
the maximum number. The grave reason for such
official partiality was in the fact that the Eleventh
had already the distinguished honor of being the
40 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
only Pennsylvania regiment that had participated
in a battle during the three months campaign, and
it could therefore afford to wait a longer time than
some others for its complement of men under the
new enlistment.
But there was another cause for our long delay
at Camp Curtin. All connected with the regi
ment desired to retain the old regimental num
ber Eleventh. The men had learned to love it ;
and, besides, there was true soldierly pride in
wishing to be known as the Eleventh Regiment,
the name under which they had defeated Stone-
wallJackson, won the first congratulatory order
issued by the commander of the army of which
they were a part, and by which the Secretary of
War had so early accepted them for the second
term of enlistment.
For some reason, this very natural desire on
the part of the regiment was strenuously opposed
by a few of the dignitaries of the State capital.
Early in October a flag was prepared, designating
the regiment as the Fifty-first, but the flag was
refused; and by way of punishing the officers
for their obstinacy in not yielding the point, they
were kept longer in camp than would probably
have been the case had there been less devotion
to the old number.
The dispute was at last settled by an order
from Governor Curtin, dated Harrisburg, Octo
ber 26th, 1861 :
GOVERNOR S ORDER. 41
" The Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers,
commanded by Colonel Coulter, will continue to
be known as the Eleventh Regiment Pennsyl
vania Volunteers. It is just to the officers and
men, that the regiment should have future op
portunities of displaying the courage and gal
lantry of Falling Waters, which is now a part of
the military history of the State, under their
original designation."
In everything relating to soldierly efficiency,
our stay at Camp Curtin was beneficial. The
drills were regular and complete. Its discipline
was the happy medium between the liberty- of
the citizen and the strict military rule of active
service, preparing each man gradually to forget
the one and submit to the other.
It also introduced us to the active sympathies
of a band of noble women in Harrisburg, princi
pal among whom were Mrs. George H. Small,
Mrs. James Denning, and Mrs. Lile Cornyn.
The constant care of these ladies for the sick of
the regiment in the camp hospital, and when the
disease became serious removing the patients to
their own houses, entitles them to our lasting
gratitude.
The organization of the field and staff officers
had undergone some change in the interval of six
months, compared with that first recommended
by Colonel Jarre tt. Colonel Coulter had asso
ciated with him, as Lieutenant-Colonel, Thomas
42 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
S. Martin, formerly of the Twenty-third Penn
sylvania Regiment; Henry A. Frink, of Phila
delphia, was commissioned Major; Lieutenant
Israel Uncapher, of Co. F, Adjutant; Lieutenant
G. W. Thorn, of Co. B, Quartermaster; Dr. R.
M. S. Jackson, of Cresson, Surgeon; Dr. James
W. Anawalt, of Greensburg, Assistant Surgeon,
and William H. Locke, of Pittsburg, Chaplain.
CHAPTER II.
FROM PENNSYLVANIA TO MARYLAND.
ON the 20th of November, in the presence of
a large concourse of spectators, Governor Cur-
tin presented to the regiment the stand of colors
provided by the State, bearing on its graceful
folds, in bright gilt letters, "ELEVENTH REGIMENT
PENNA. VOLS." Side by side with this cherished
gift of the State was carried the flag presented
by the ladies of Martinsburg, both alike to be
shielded from dishonor with nothing less sacred
than our lives.
One week later, Colonel Coulter was ordered
to report his regiment to General Dix, at Balti
more. Co. A, Captain Christian Kuhn ; Co. B,
Captain William Shanks; Co. C, Captain Jacob
THROUGH BALTIMORE. 43
J. Bierer; Co. D, Captain John Knox; Co. E,
Captain James C. McCurdy; Co. F, Captain Da
vid M. Cook ; Co. II, Captain Edward H. Rauch ;
Co. I, Captain George A. Cribbs; and Co. K,
Captain John B. Keenan, took cars at the North
ern Central depot the same evening, leaving Co.
G to follow next day.
It was hard to realize, as we marched through
the streets of Baltimore in the early morning of
November 28th, on our way to the wharf where
the regiment was to take shipping for Annapolis,
that we were treading the same thoroughfares in
which Union soldiers, but a few months before,
had been stoned to death. A very different re
ception awaited the Eleventh. Subsistence com
mittees met us at the cars, ready to escort us to
the Soldiers Home ; smiling faces and waving
handkerchiefs everywhere greeted us, as though
Baltimore would erase all recollection of the
hateful 19th of April.
Late at night we disembarked at Annapolis,
and marched to the old St. John s College. Ever
since General Butler landed his troops at the
mouth of the Severn River, and marched from
thence to Washington, Annapolis had been an
important point to the Government. At the time
of our arrival it was an immense depot of military
supplies, besides the rendezvous of the Burnside
expedition, whose unknown destination lent a ro
mantic charm to everything connected with it.
44 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
In the midst of the formidable array of ships
and men that crowded the harbor and thronged
the streets of the antique city, we found ourselves
surrounded by associations inexpressibly dear to
the heart of every American. We were in one
of the oldest cities of the Union. Here was the
State House, with a history running back to
the days of the Revolution, in which the treaty
of peace with Great Britain, acknowledging our
independence, had been ratified by Congress.
Here Washington resigned his commission as
commander-in-chief of the American army, and
retired to Mount Yernon. The room has been
preserved unchanged; and to stand upon the
spot where Washington stood at that hour of his
life, to look upon the same objects on which he had
gazed, seemed to place one in close communion
with the spirit of the mighty dead. It was in
deed singular that upon such hallowed ground
the demon of treason should dare to manifest
itself.
St. John s College in which were found ex
cellent quarters for men and officers, the former
occupying the three large school edifices and the
latter the several dwelling-houses of the profes
sors was scarcely less venerable and venerated
than the State House itself. The main building
had been erected more than a hundred years, and
was at first designed as the Executive Mansion
of the State. But the General Assembly of Ma-
ANNAPOLIS. 45
ryland, in 1784, incorporated St. John s College,
and conveyed to the trustees the building and
four acres of land, known as College Green.
College Green was used in the revolutionary
war as the camping-ground of the French army;
and also by the American troops assembled in
the war of 1812. Now, for the third time, it
became a military encampment. It was not a
foreign foe that threatened us, but those of our
own household. Violent men were seeking to
destroy the integrity of the republic, and the
troops then drilling on soil already consecrated
by the footsteps of the patriots who established
the Government, had before them the not less
glorious work of preserving that Government in
tact to those who should come after.
During the several beautiful Sabbaths that fol
lowed our arrival at Annapolis, as the chaplain
stood beneath the overhanging branches of a
venerable tree, whose age can certainly be counted
back two hundred years, and in the midst of the
historical associations alluded to, speaking to offi
cers and men in the name of JESUS, and re
membering that our fathers had only succeeded
in their struggle through the blessing of GOD,
how necessary it seemed that our cause should
be sanctified by prayer, and that our hope of
success be placed alone in HIM.
It would have accorded better with the incli
nations of all concerned had* the Eleventh been se-
46 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
lected to make a part of the Burnside expedition,
then nearly ready to sail. But the order of Gen
eral Dix assigned us to duty iu Annapolis. The
duties were onerous, and more than should have
been required of any one regiment. The city
was furnished with a provost guard, twenty-one
miles of railroad were protected, besides per
forming a large share of fatigue duty at the Naval
Academy, the commissary depot of the sailing
expedition.
A contraband trade had been kept up between
Baltimore and Virginia through the lower coun
ties of Maryland, upon which we were also to
keep an eye; as well, possibly, by our presence,
protect the Maryland Legislature, then about to
assemble, in its expressions of loyalty and de
nunciations of treason.
Companies B, E, I, and K were sent out on the
railroad, while the other five companies (Co. G
having failed as yet to report) made up the pro
vost guard, and all the details for duty elsewhere.
The guard-house was in the old city ball-room,
one of the historic places of Annapolis. Older
than the State House, it had been used as the
legislative hall during the erection of that build
ing; while the supper-room was formerly the
revenue office of the province. The walls were
still decorated by portraits of Lord Baltimore
and several of the former Governors of Mary-
laud. Those gentlemen of the olden time seemed
ANNAPOLIS. 47
strangely out of place in the crowd of unruly
soldiers that the Provost Marshal, Captain Ja
cob J. Bierer, almost nightly provided with lodg
ings in that room.
Everything looked as though the regiment
would pass the winter in Annapolis, and our
plans were made with a view to patient submis
sion. The men guarding the railroad were ap
parently satisfied with their part of the contract,
and those in quarters had no more complaints
than are usual to a soldier. The trustees of the
Methodist Episcopal Church kindly offered us the
use of their house, where religious services were
held every Sabbath afternoon, a hospital tent,
then out of use, serving as a chapel for week-
night meetings.
Nor was the service required entirely devoid of
the kind of excitement so essential to the volun
teer. The companies on the railroad found am
ple exercise for all their vigilance in the number
of passing trains, and in the travel in private con
veyance to and fro along their lines. The guard
in town was not less active, keeping a sharp look
out that no suspicious craft or contraband cargo
was permitted to escape from the harbor.
Governor Hicks, Speaker Berry of the House of
Delegates, Judge Brewer, and other prominent cit
izens, gave us special personal attention, and con
tributed greatly to our social enjoyment. Through
the efforts of such men as these, who nobly
48 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
breasted the tide of disloyalty and treason, at one
time setting in hard against her, Maryland es
caped the desolation and ruin that have swept
over her sister State of Virginia.
Western boys, such as composed the Eleventh,
had no sympathies in common with those who
could find apologies for secession and rebellion.
Maryland had not then accepted the logic of
events, nor declared herself a free State ; and
occasionally a rampant Southron was to be met,
whose zeal for the South was greater than his
discretion. The Articles of War forbade politi
cal discussions by any in the service. But more
than one of those blatant apologists of wrong
found that Union soldiers had a way of their own
of settling disputed points, without violating the
letter of military law; and that the hard fist of
a Northern yeoman struck out from the shoulder
was an argument by no means easy to oppose.
The chaplain was in duty bound to be less
demonstrative, even at the risk of being less con
vincing. But as a compensation, he had oppor
tunities of learning the true sentiments of many
leading citizens. One gentleman, himself a
slaveholder, who frequently visited at regimental
headquarters, though heartily condemning the
rebellion, could not but blame the Xorth for an
impertinent interference in the affairs of the
South. Servitude, in his opinion, was the nor
mal condition of the black man, and it was only
MASTER AND SLAVE. 49
a false philanthropy to attempt to place him
anywhere else.
"But why not hire the negro, and pay him
stated wages?"
" Because it won t do, sir. I have been in
public life for more than twenty-five years, and
pretend to know something about this matter ;
and I give it to you as my decided opinion that
the scheme is not practicable. Hired blacks, or
free blacks, are too lazy to work, and you cannot
coerce them. We must either have absolute con
trol of them, such as ownership gives, or dispense
with their labor altogether. Take the cultiva
tion of tobacco, for instance. There are particu
lar times when a delay of two hours would ruin
the crop. How could we then go round gather
ing up hands ? And knowing him as we do, who
would trust to a hired negro in such an emer
gency ? No, sir ; it will not do. And we find
fault with you men of the North, because you will
meddle with a thing you do not understand."
We ventured the remark, that there were men
at the North who did not so much oppose the
peculiar institution of slavery, as the many and
great evils connected with it; and to mention
no other, the breaking up of the family, in the
separation of husband and wife, and of parent
and child.
""Well, sir, we have nothing of that kind in
Maryland, except in very rare cases. I have had
5
50 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
some experience in settling up estates; and where
negroes are to be sold in this State, they almost
invariably select their own masters. Let me give
you an illustration. A friend of mine owned a
black man, whose son belonged to another part
of the estate. A death occurring, the estate was
to be sold, servants and all. Some time before
the sale, the boy came to my friend with the re
quest that he would buy him. The gentleman
did not need him at the time, and so gave an
evasive answer. But when the day of sale came
round, of the several persons who really wanted
Jack, not one of them could get him to say he
would go to live with him. Massa Judge Du-
vall is gwine to buy me/ was the negro s reply;
and as no one else would bid for him, the Judge
was obliged to take him. So, in almost every
instance, they select their own masters, and very
rarely, in this State, are families divided by sale."
^ew ideas have been developed since the con
versation of that afternoon in March, 1862.
Maryland is a free State ; and upon her own soil
the practicability of free black labor has been
clearly demonstrated.
THE MERRIMAC. 51
CHAPTER III.
SIDE ISSUES OF THE CONFLICT.
MANY bright days visited us during that winter
in Annapolis, when a ride to the camp of the Ira
Harris Cavalry, or along the South River, or
wherever else inclination might suggest, was a
charming relief from the monotony of life in
quarters. iSTor were we so far from the front as
to be undisturbed by the passing events of the
great conflict.
It was on a Sunday afternoon, just after reli
gious services had commenced, that an order was
received at the church from General Hatch, com
manding the post, requiring one company, fully
armed and equipped, to report at headquarters
for special duty. It was well that all the tacts in
the case did not come out at once, or the chap
lain could scarcely have kept the attention of his
remaining audience.
The iron-clad Merrimac, w^ith which the rebels
had been threatening our navy for months, had
actually encountered and sunk the frigates Con
gress and Cumberland, and was reported to have
passed Fortress Monroe with a fleet of gun
boats. Great excitement prevailed throughout
52 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
the city, every one supposing the vessel would
sail direct to Annapolis, for the purpose of cap
turing the extensive commissary stores in depot.
Company A was sent down the bay on the
steamer G. A. Warner to watch the movements
of the iron-clad, and to give notice of her first
approach. All the steamers in port were ordered
to Baltimore, as in case of attack the harbor of
Annapolis was without adequate defense ; while
many of the citizens were preparing to fly at the
moment of certain danger. But most oppor
tunely, a new opponent appeared in the shape
of a Monitor, to contest the further advance of
the formidable adversary. After a severe strug
gle of three hours, the Merrimac gave up the
fight, and in a disabled condition returned to
Norfolk.
When the alarm had ceased, and all things
once more assumed their quiet ways, one family
at least, found itself greatly benefited by the
threatened visit of the rebel iron-clad. Among
the domestics of that household is one who bears
the not very poetical name of Jane. She is de
cidedly hard to manage, and a source of great
vexation to the female portion of the family.
Various and novel have been the ways resorted
to in order to bring her to terms. A year or two
before, a negro man was hanged for some crime,
and among those sent to see the sight, for the
good it might do, was Jane. But strange to say,
THE SUBDUED DOMESTIC. 53
not the least impression was made upon the
incorrigible colored girl. Hanging is not an
everyday affair, and it is hard to tell whether,
in course of time, the effect on Jane might not
be all that is desired. Up to that eventful Sun
day afternoon, the only thing that subdued the
unruly and wayward domestic, was to sing:
" Hark from the tombs, a doleful sound."
Whenever coaxing and driving and the whip
failed in their efforts, some one of the family
struck up the notes of this funeral hymn.
With what imaginary terrors Jane had invested
the Merrimac, the family did not care to inquire.
But it was soon discovered that a threatened visit
from the hideous monster, whatever the terror
might be, was a source of alarm as potent as that
of singing the hymn ; and as the new remedy
admitted of an easier application than the old
one, it was ever after adopted to quiet into obe
dience the obstreperous Jane.
Attachment to place does not belong to the
volunteer soldier. No matter how comfortably
he may be quartered, or what advantage the
locality may possess, a few days satisfy him ; and
an order to strike tents, though full of uncertainty
as to where they shall be pitched again, is re
ceived with joy. When the Second Maryland
Regiment relieved us of duty on the railroad,
and the men were ordered to prepare for a speedy
5*
54 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
move, there were no regrets expressed in parting
with the fine accommodations and numerous ad
vantages of Annapolis.
General Burnside was to be reinforced. Al
ready several spirited engagements had taken
place, achieving important victories for the
Union cause on the North Carolina coast. Much
remained yet to be done ; and though not per
mitted to take part in the first operations, there
was every prospect that we should be in time for
these later movements. But after days of ex
pectation and waiting for the order to embark for
North Carolina, the regiment was sent back to
guard the Annapolis railroad.
To make matters still more unsatisfactory, the
Second Maryland at once took shipping for For
tress Monroe, General Burnside having especi
ally named it as the regiment at Annapolis he
desired to have sent to him. The general fell fully
one-half in our estimation. We forgot our early
association with him on the Upper Potomac, and
seriously doubted the abilities of an officer hav
ing so little discernment as to prefer the Second
Maryland to the Eleventh Pennsylvania.
When the whole truth came out, it was found
that at the personal request of a number of prom
inent citizens, who preferred to have a Pennsyl
vania rather than a Maryland regiment quartered
among them, the order for the removal of the
Eleventh had been countermanded. Cos. C, D,
DEPARTURE FOR WASHINGTON. 55
F, and H took the stations B, E, I, and K had
formerly occupied on the railroad, while Co. A
was sent to do guard duty at Friendship, twenty-
five miles down the Chesapeake Bay.
Several changes occurred among the commis
sioned officers during our sojourn in the capital
of Maryland. The vacancy occasioned in Co.
B, by the appointment of Lieutenant G-. W.
Thorn Regimental Quartermaster, was filled by
promoting Second Lieutenant B. F. Hainesto be
first lieutenant, and Sergeant George Tapp to be
second lieutenant. Captain Knox, of Co. D,
while absent on recruiting service, died at his
home in Jersey Shore. Governor Curtin com
missioned W. E. Sees, of Harrisburg, to fill the
vacancy, who proved himself an officer every
way worthy and competent.
In Co. F, Sergeant Michael J. Kettering was
promoted to be first lieutenant, in place of Israel
Uncapher, appointed adjutant; Sergeant-Major
Edward H. Gay to be second lieutenant, in place
of Lieutenant W. McCutcheon, who died in camp
of disease contracted in the service.
The evacuation of Centerville and Manassas
Junction by the rebels, and the landing of a large
Federal force on the Yorktown peninsula, caused
new combinations of troops to be made through
out the whole theater of war; and during the
afternoon of April 9th, the cars that were to trans
port us to Washington switched off in front of
our quarters.
56 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
The embarking of eight hundred men, with
tents, baggage, and quartermaster s stores, con
sumed what was left of daylight. With night
came the most violent snow-storm of the season,
blocking up the railroad, and holding us fast
on the track a few miles from the place of starting
until the next morning. It was a freak of the
weather never before know r n in that latitude.
But the warm April sun soon melted the snow,
and by the time we reached Washington every
vestige of the winter storm had disappeared.
Soldiers Home, as the large white-washed
buildings at the railroad station were called, good
enough in itself, was but a poor substitute for the
excellent quarters vacated in St. John s College.
But every day was so full of conflicting rumors
that the style of our quarters, and even the qual
ity of the rations, were forgotten in the uncer
tainty of our destination.
The one event that gave character to our short
stay in Washington was the review of the Elev
enth by President Lincoln. A special invitation
was sent to Colonel Coulter to march his regi
ment to the White House. An hour later,
donning the new clothes issued to them by the
quartermaster, our boys were marching up Penn
sylvania Avenue. Standing on the steps of the
Executive Mansion, as we then saw him in the
clear light of that 15th of April, with head un
covered, and a kindly smile playing over his face,
REVIEW BY THE PRESIDENT. 57
bowing to the ranks of men that passed in review
before him, is associated our most vivid recollec
tion of Abraham Lincoln.
The next day the regiment took boat for Alex
andria, and from thence was transported by rail
to Manassas Junction.
CHAPTER IY.
FROM MARYLAND TO VIRGINIA.
MANASSAS was the name formerly given to a
small village and railroad station at the junction
of the Alexandria and Orange and the Manassas
Gap Railroads. Xow it is applied indiscrimi
nately to a section of country several miles in
extent. Xothing was left of the village but con
fused heaps of bricks and mortar, while either
side of the railroad, for miles in extent, was
blackened with the charred remains of camp
equipage, baggage and stores, that the rebels, for
want of transportation, had been compelled to
destroy.
The Manassas Gap Road extends from its in
tersection with the Alexandria and Orange Road,
through Front Royal to Strasburg, in the Shen-
andoah Valley. Important co-operative move-
58 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
ments were in contemplation from all points
upon Richmond, making it necessary that this
line of communication should be kept open. The
construction corps was already at work repairing
damages and rebuilding the bridges across the
Shenandoah River, while a guard sufficient to
protect the road from guerrilla attacks extended
along its entire length.
The Eleventh was placed on duty between Ma-
nassas Junction and "White Plains, a distance of
twenty-two miles. Major Frink, with Cos. B, C,
and D, was stationed at White Plains ; Co. E at
Broad Run ; Co. K at Thoroughfare Gap ; Co. I
at an intermediate point between K and H ; Co.
H at Haymarket; Co. F at Gainesville, and Co. A
between F and the Junction. Regimental head
quarters were at Manassas, as here a general depot
of supplies had been established, and direct tele
graphic communication with the department at
Washington.
White Plains, Haymarket, and Gainesville are
small villages, rescued from oblivion by the
fierce engagements associated with their names.
Thoroughfare Gap is a rocky chasm in the Bull
Run Mountains. Through this natural cut the
O
railroad passes, and Broad Run, a limpid stream
on whose banks are several valuable mills, also
finds a passage through the gap to the Potomac.
The companies at all the several points had the
same instructions issued to them : " To prevent the
MANASSAS GAP RAILROAD. 59
destruction of the track, or any property or stock
belonging to the road ; to see that the track is kept
clear, and bridges fully protected; to prevent
depredations on the private property of citizens;
all suspicious persons to be carefully examined,
and if circumstances warrant, to be sent to head
quarters, especially all mounted men found with
arms near the road or any of the pickets."
The duty required on the Manassas road,
though the same in kind as that performed at
Annapolis, was more exciting because demand
ing greater vigilance.
We had passed from comparatively loyal Mary
land into positively disloyal Virginia, where the
most peaceable citizen was ready to strike a blow
secretly, when he could not do so openly. Guard
duty assumes a very different character under
such surroundings. It loses every feature of mo
notony; and if the ears of the picket do not put
on the dimensions of those of the rabbit, he has
at least all the acuteness of hearing accredited to
that watchful little quadruped. The gentlest
zephyr does not loosen from its stem a solitary
leaf without arresting his attention, while his eye
possesses such magic power that many times a
moss-grown stump, or a stray horse, has been
metamorphosed into an armed rebel.
Co. H was stationed at Haymarket. It was
known that several of Ashby s Cavalry had re
sided in the town, and a strict guard was kept
60 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
over all the inhabitants. Toward twelve o clock
of a particular night, when quiet reigned through
out the quarters of Co. H, and all were wrapped
in soundest sleep save the trusty sentinel, whose
duty it was to watch for danger, an unusual com
motion was observed throughout the village. The
bright light in one house, that had first attracted
the notice of the guard, was soon seen in several
others. The captain was aroused, and having
satisfied himself that something more than ordi
nary was going on, the men were ordered to fall
into line \vith the utmost dispatch and quiet. In
a moment sixty men, with guns and cartridge-
boxes, stood in their places. All could now see
lights flickering in half a dozen windows, and
even the fast trotting of horses was distinctly
heard.
It was enough. Either Ashby meditated an
assault on Co. H, or else some of his bold parti
sans were on a visit to friends. But, in the pres
ent state of affairs, a visit could not be allowed, and
an assault must be resisted. The plan of attack
was to surround the town, and then close in toward
that point where suspicion seemed the strongest.
By the time these arrangements were completed,
all the lights had disappeared, except in the win
dows of a single house, and at this one the sev
eral squads into which the company had been
divided at last met. The captain boldly entered,
demanding the surrender of the impertinent foe
THE MIDNIGHT ALARM. 61
who had dared to plot mischief at such an un
seasonable hour. A small man, with spectacles
on his nose, and of demeanor far too quiet for a
soldier, made his appearance. In answer to the
captain, he announced himself a physician, called
on professional business; and that the good peo
ple of the house were rejoicing in a small addition
to the male department of the family.
Early in the month of May, a citizen brought
information to White Plains that two deserters
from the Union army had taken possession of
a forsaken residence, some miles distant in the
direction of Warren ton, and were threatening
the lives of all around them.
It was feared that the story might be intended
to entrap our men; but a detachment sufficiently
strong to protect itself, was sent out under com
mand of Captain Sees. When the party came
near the house, a squad of cavalry, drawn up in
line of battle, was in full view. Selecting the
best possible position of defense, Captain Sees
awaited the result of what he now felt certain
to be a scheme to capture himself and men. In
a little while, two horsemen rode out from the
line, waving their hats. At first no attention
was paid to the movement; but as the cavalrymen
continued to advance, the captain stepped for
ward to meet them, when they were found to be
a part of Colonel Geary s command, stationed at
Salem, and out on the same errand as himself.
6
62 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Coming up to the house, the cavalry discov
ered that a party of citizens had anticipated them ;
and in their attack upon the deserters, one of
them had been killed, but at a loss of two of their
own number, of whom was Mr. Scott, a prominent
citizen of Warrenton and a leading member of
the bar. The surviving deserter made good his
escape.
The next day after the affair, the reported de
serter came to Captain Keenairs quarters at
Thoroughfare Gap, and gave himself up. He
and his companion belonged to the Seventh "Wis
consin Regiment. While on picket duty, they
had been captured by Ashby s cavalry; but mak
ing their escape in a few days after, were leisurely
getting back to Warrenton to join their regiment.
The only depredations committed were for some
thing to eat. When attacked by the party of
citizens, only one of them was in the house, the
other being some distance from it. The man on
the outside was without arms of any kind, and
surrounded by half a score of men. But instead
of attempting to secure him as a prisoner, and
return him to his regiment, he was shot dead,
three balls entering the body. His companion
witnessed the whole scene, and having both guns
in his possession, and anticipating a similar fate,
fired each from an open window with fatal effect.
The prisoner was retained in our possession
until we reached Falmouth, and then sent to Gen
eral McDowell s headquarters.
A CLERICAL CAPTIVE. 63
Colonel Coulter s stringent order to arrest all
mounted citizens, found with arms near our lines,
was not based entirely upon suspicion. Several
men of Colonel Geary s command had already
been murdered on picket; a fact that fully re
vealed the animus of the people around us. Some
of the arrests may have caused great personal
inconvenience; but the convenience of the few
had to be sacrificed to the safety of the many.
A clergyman of the Southern Methodist
Church, named "Williams, and in charge of War-
renton Circuit, was among those arrested and
brought to headquarters at Manassas. He was
quite indignant that our pickets should molest
him; but when questioned as to the propriety of
carrying a loaded revolver in his saddle pockets,
he could give no satisfactory answer. In respect
for his profession, the clerical captive, instead of
being placed in the guard-house, was handed over
to the charge of the chaplain, who tried to make
him feel that he had fallen into the hands of
generous captors. We gave him supper, shared
with him our blankets when night came on, and
breakfast in the morning. The colonel having
assured himself, by telegraphing to Warrenton,
that Mr. "Williams was practicing no imposition,
he was at once released, and furnished with a
pass through our lines; leaving his carnal weap
ons in the hands of the soldier who made the
arrest.
64 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
No class of men did more to embitter the
Southern feeling, and urge on to open rebellion*
than the ministers of the Southern Methodist
Church. Mr. Williams was present at the con
ference that met in Norfolk. The iron-clad
Merrimac was nearly finished, and the entire
conference, by special invitation, paid a visit to
the vessel as she lay in her moorings. Speeches
were made in the highest style of secession elo
quence ; hopes were expressed , and prayers offered
up for the success of the huge monster in her
work of ruin and death. Many of these men,
forsaking the peaceful calling of the gospel, took
the sword, and by the sword they perished.
Others of them, through the madness of rebellion,
drifting away from the principles and practices
of the religion of Christ, are now moral wrecks,
stranded on the shores of time.
BULL RUN BATTLE-FIELD. 65
CHAPTER V.
MANASSAS JUNCTION AND ITS ENVIRONS.
AT Mauassas we were in the vicinity of the
Bull Run battle-field. Xot curiosity only, but
such an interest in that event as nearly related
us to the actors, prompted an early visit.
Near regimental headquarters was Fort Beau-
regard, a large and formidable earth- work; while
at different points on the Manassas plain, and in
commanding positions, were several other works
of lesser magnitude. Two miles distant, on the
road to Centerville, stood the large brick man
sion of Mr. Weir, Beauregard s headquarters.
Here the Confederate general and his staff re
mained during the attack at Blackburn s Ford,
July 18th, which so greatly deranged the plans
of McDowell, who intended that General Tyler
should make a mere feint movement at that point,
while the main force was making the transit of
Bull Run at the Stone Bridge and further up to
the right.
Crossing Bull Run at Blackburn s Ford, where
the stream is perhaps fifty yards wide, we rode to
Centerville. The whole intermediate space of ter-
6*
66 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
ritory was a chain of breast-works and fortifica
tions. Everything that industry and skill could
devise to make Manassas impregnable was done;
and if General McClellan had marched from
Washington direct upon those works, in the
opening of the spring of 1862, after having al
lowed the rebels so long a time to perfect them,
it would have been a disastrous undertaking.
Turning from Centerville, we continued our
ride along the Warrenton pike to Stone Bridge.
It is the highway across Bull Run, the northern
bank of which is a steep, rocky bluff. In that
direction our forces were retreating on the 21st
of July; and standing on the spot, one could
easily imagine how the blockading of the bridge
by broken-down wagons and abandoned gun-
carriages, would worse confound the scattered
ranks of a retreating army.
On the south side of the bridge, and ascending
a gentle slope, we were in full view of every
point of the battle-field, from right to left. Near
by is the dwelling of Henry Robinson. The old
negro man remained in his house during the
engagement of July 21st, though it was struck
several times, and in one instance a cannon ball
passed directly through its walls. AVhen asked
why he did not leave and seek a safer place, he
replied:
"You see, massa, dey had no safe places dat
day. Ole Henry spected to git killed anyhow,
BULL BUN BATTLE-FIELD. 67
and he tink he jist as lief die in de ole house as
anywhare else."
After the defeat of the Federal army, Manas-
sas became a spot of great interest to Southern
ers, who visited it in large numbers. The old
man s house stood so near where the principal
engagement took place that no one came to
the battle-field without making him a visit. He
entertained us for a long time with the opinions
and remarks of rebel officers, as he had often
heard them express themselves, in reference to
that battle. All agreed that early in the day
Beauregard acknowledged himself defeated, and
would have retreated but for Johnson, who, ar
riving on the ground some hours before his army,
urged him to hold on until his forces should come
up. The arrival of several thousand fresh troops
was more than our exhausted men could endure.
Still, at the first, they retired in good order; the
panic which resulted so disastrously having oc
curred far in the rear of that part of the army
actually engaged with the enemy.
In the sickening details of a hundred battles,
the country has not forgotten the indignities
offered to our killed and wounded on this first
field. Many of its dead were left unburied, as
the bleached human bones lying on the surface
too plainly declared, while of those buried, arms
and limbs and heads were seen projecting from
the shallow graves.
68 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Every available spot of the country over which
we passed had been used as a camp. The quar
ters were comfortable log cabins with clap-board
roofs, indicating that a large army, well cared
for, had spent the winter at Manassas.
The village of White Plains escaped, in a great
measure, the devastation of Manassas. It was
the location of the rebel general hospital, and the
numerous graves on the hillside above the town
truthfully told how severely the enemy suffered
in his first great battle, and that fell disease, during
the long winter months, had almost decimated en
tire regiments.
Several brothers by the name of Foster, the
owners of valuable estates, resided in the village.
Colonel Ashby lived at Markham, some miles
distant up the railroad, but his famous cavalry
troop, that afterward degenerated into Moseby s
guerrillas, was made up of the best young men of
this and the adjoining neighborhoods. For a
number of years tournaments, with Col. Ashby
at their head, pronounced the best equestrian
in Virginia, were among the chief attractions
of Warrenton Springs. The young men of the
vicinity became most expert horsemen, and when
the war broke out, the Colonel had a troop of
unequaled riders ready at hand.
In company with Dr. Jackson and Captain
Shanks, the chaplain found a home for several
days at the house of Thomas Foster, the Quar-
ABSCONDING DARKIES. 69
termaster of Ashby s Cavalry. The family con
sisted of the wife, two daughters, and an elderly
uncle, their only male protector. It was to be
expected that there would be more or less re
straint in our social intercourse with those whose
dearest friends we could only regard as our bitter
enemies. But underneath all the studied polite
ness of which we were the recipients in that ele
gant residence, there was a stratum of the old
Virginia hospitality that nothing but the actual
existence of war could keep from coming to the
surface.
Whatever was once said of the masses of the
South not understanding the questions at issue
between the two sections of the country, at no
time could it ever apply to the more intelligent
portions. The doctrine of State rights had been
thoroughly studied and as heartily believed. In
their libraries and on their tables were to be
found the works of Nott and Gliddon, and Mor
ton, plausible theories, all going to prove that
the white man and the negro are of distinct
races ; that the negro belongs to an inferior order
of beings, and finds his proper condition only in
subjection to the superior. With this class of
persons the war was a contest of ideas, thoroughly
understood because thoroughly studied.
At an early period in the war Alexandria came
to be regarded as the negro s paradise. Without
newspapers or telegraph, he soon learned that to
70 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
reach that point was to be no longer a slave.
White Plains was the general rendezvous of ab
sconding negroes for a large section of country,
and scarcely a train of cars passed down the road
without its complement of human freight. Some
times they came to the station in pairs, and again
in squads, big and little, old and young, carrying
all their worldly possessions, rolled up in bundles,
on their heads, or slung across their shoulders,
having little conception of where they were go
ing except to some wonderful place called Alex
andria or what they would do. They knew
they would be/ree, and that fact answered every
question.
On one particular day a motley group of them,
not less than twenty in all, came to White Plains
in an ox-cart. Scarcely had they unloaded them
selves on the platform, when a panting and foam
ing horse, carrying an excited-looking rider, stop
ped in front of headquarters. The man on
horseback eagerly demanded where he might
find the commanding officer, as he had special
business with him. Every one was on the qui
vive, and with the hope that he might be the
bearer of such stirring news as would cause a
speedy move, the rider was directed to Major
Frink. But his business was altogether of a per
sonal nature.
" Major," said he, "those people out there, who
have just arrived in that ox-cart, belong to me,
and I want you to compel them to return home."
ABSCONDING DARKIES. 71
"Well, sir," replied the major, "that kind of
work is not exactly in my line. If your people
wish to return home, not a man of my command
will interfere ; but if they do not desire to re
turn, so far from compelling them myself, I can
not even allow their owner to compel them."
The Virginian was not satisfied with the ma
jor s decision, and inquired where he might find
the commander of the regiment. He was in
formed that regimental headquarters were at
Manassas Junction, and as his slaves had already
got aboard of the train, which in the mean time
had come up to the station, their owner took a
place near them.
But it so happened that while conductors of
trains were directed to allow all negroes free pas
sage to Alexandria, without let or hinderance, no
white person could travel over the road, to any
point whatever, without a pass from the nearest
post commander. In the hurry to keep in sight
of his property, the white man had forgotten this
salutary arrangement. When the train was ready
to start the conductor politely told him that he
could not carry him to Manassas without a pass
from Major Frink. Enraged beyond endurance,
and too haughty to ask permission to ride where
his slaves could go with impunity, he left the
train, people and all, swearing bitter vengeance
against the whole ^"orth.
Many furtive glances, mingled with evident
72 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
fear and dread, had been cast by the fugitives at
their old master. But when they saw him stand,
ing on the platform, and felt the train moving on
the iron track beneath them, the comical shrug
of the shoulder, and the laugh-provoking grin
that spread over their ebony faces, were silent
expressions of joy at the sudden breaking of
life-long bonds.
CHAPTER VI.
MARCHING SOUTHWARD.
AN order from General HartsuiF, directing Col
onel Coulter to report his command at Falmouth,
indefinitely postponed several proposed expedi
tions from different company stations in search
of Ashby s Cavalry.
The march from Manassas, on the 12th of May,
was our first going afoot. Hitherto the regiment
had been transported in cars or on steamboats.
During the campaigns that followed, the men re
peatedly traveled twenty to thirty miles a day,
but the sore feet, and the weary lengths to which
those ten miles of that breaking in march stretched
themselves, are remembered to this hour.
The route over which we passed by way of
FREDERICKSBURG. 73
Catlett s Station, Bristersburg, and Hartwood
Church became the track of the army in its
after surges back and forth between Washington
and the Rappahannock. Then but few troops
had marched that way, and the country was lux
uriating in the undisturbed beauties of early
spring. Handsome residences lined the roadside,
while the first view of Fredericksburg, and those
hights that are now historic, was enchanting.
In three days after leaving Manassas Junction
the Eleventh reported to General Hartsuff, and
was permanently assigned to Hartsuff s Brigade
of Ord s Division, McDowell s Corps.
The dingy little village of Falmouth was the
gathering place of McDowell s troops, intended
to co-operate with McClellan against Richmond.
Large details of men were engaged in repairing
the railroad from Aquia Creek, and in rebuilding
the bridge across the Rappahannock. An ex
tensive foundery located in Fredericksburg, where
shot and shell were cast for the rebel army, was
turned into a Union workshop, as artisans of
every kind, from the master mechanic to the
youngest apprentice, helped to swell the ranks
of the great Federal army.
Fredericksburg is one of the ancient towns of
Virginia. Walking leisurely through its clean
and shady streets, filled with sauntering soldiers
dressed in blue, there was an air of peaceful quiet
strongly in contrast with the noisy and bustling
74 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
camps across the river. It was in this place that
the mother of Washington lived during the war
of the Revolution, and here, too, is the burial
place of that illustrious woman.
More than thirty years ago, a gentleman of
New York proposed, at his own expense, to erect
a monument to the memory of Mary Washing
ton. The corner stone was laid near her grave
with appropriate ceremonies by Andrew Jack
son, President of the United States. But after
the work had progressed to the completion of the
pedestal, commercial reverses overtook the pa
triotic designer, and the monument has never
been finished. To show their utter contempt for
everything Northern, the chivalry of Fredericks-
burg, in the preparations to defend themselves
against the ruthless Yankee invaders, made of
this pedestal a target for their rifle shots. With
its face marred and indented, and the corners
broken off by glancing balls, we could only re
gard it as a monument of the ingratitude and
hate possible to the human heart.
The denizens of the old town were amazed,
not only at the versatility of the Yankee genius,
but at the dreadful earnestness with which North
ern soldiers went to work. It was almost too
much to believe, though seen with their own
eyes, that in five days a railroad bridge could be
built across the Rappahannock River. An old
Virginia esquire, who could be seen every day
A NIGHT MARCH. 75
closely watching the rapid progress of the busy
workmen, was conquered by the first locomotive
that went puffing and screaming over the new
and substantial structure.
"Don t burn any more bridges," said he. "It
is all of no use. You might just as well attempt
to keep rats out of a meal chest, as to keep back
these Yankees. If there is no other way of get
ting over rivers, they will invent a plan to fill
their knapsacks with wind, and cross on them!"
Everything was now in readiness for the ad
vance of McDowell s Corps to Hanover Court
House, where it was to form the right wing of
the Peninsular army. Surplus baggage had
been sent to Washington ; immense depots of
supplies established at Falmouth; and when,
toward sundown of that Sabbath afternoon, May
25th, the order to march was received, officers
and men had marked out the course as across the
Rappahannock and through Fredericksburg.
But the head of the column turned in the op
posite direction. The bright afternoon was suc
ceeded by a cloudy night; and as we moved
along in silence over those unknown Virginia
roads, a thousand conjectures as to where we
were going, and why we were going, floated
through the mind.
An hour or two after midnight the troops bi
vouacked, as morning revealed, near Aquia
Creek. It then began to be know^n that Stone-
76 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
wall Jackson had driven General Banks through
the Shenandoah Valley, and across the Potomac,
and rumor added that the rebels were threatening
an attack on Washington, for whose defense Ord s
Division had been ordered northward with all
possible haste. Transports were already at the
wharf to convey us to Alexandria, and at an
early hour the troops began to embark.
Aquia Creek enters into the Potomac River
forty miles below Washington. The banks are
high and precipitous; and for a long time during
the fall and winter of 1861, the rebel guns,
mounted on fortifications at the mouth of the
creek, completely blockaded the Potomac. The
position was well chosen, having command of the
river up and down for several miles.
It was three o clock in the afternoon before
our vessel steamed out into the channel; four
or five hours later, we were safely moored at the
Alexandria dock.
Neither the sail up the river, delightful in it
self, nor the several points of interest to be seen,
among others Mount Yernon and Fort Wash
ington, could keep awake troops tired and
fatigued by the long march of the preceding
night. All were in the proper state of body and
mind to hear, with great complacency of feeling,
when the steamer reached Alexandria, that we
should remain on shipboard until morning, and
each one adjusted himself for an undisturbed
night s sleep.
PURSUIT OF JACKSON. 77
Alas, for human expectations. In the midst
of peaceful dreams, the command "fall in"
aroused every sleeping soldier. Half an hour
later we were moving toward the railroad depot.
It was believed that the rebels, successful in driv
ing Banks across the Potomac, were concentra
ting large forces at Manassas Junction for an
attack on Alexandria and the capital.
The city was wrapt in slumber, and the only
sound that awoke the midnight stillness was the
measured tread of the men marching through its
deserted streets. Long trains of cars, filled with
soldiers, were soon moving out from the station,
and proceeding cautiously along the road, send
ing out skirmishers from Union Mills, Fairfax
Station, and Bull Run, the Division reached
Manassas Junction a little after daylight.
Banks had retreated before the advancing
forces of Stonewall Jackson; and Washington
City was in a state of feverish excitement, lest
the next hour would bring the impetuous rebel
thundering at its gates. But not a foe was to be
seen near Manassas. The wily Jackson had no
intention of coming in that direction. His flank
movement was successfully executed. McDowell
had been diverted from Hanover Court House,
a movement General Lee greatly feared, and
the rebel army, with all possible speed, was mak
ing its way down the valley toward Richmond.
The authorities at Washington, supposing that
7*
78 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Jackson might be intercepted in bis homeward
march, ordered McDowell to move on to Stras-
burg. While one column was approaching from
the east, Fremont was to cross the mountains from
the west, and between the upper and the nether
mill-stone the rebel general was to suffer for his
temerity.
Our line of march, that commenced on the
morning of May 29th, lay along the Manassas Gap
Eailroad. We bivouacked the first night at
Thoroughfare Gap, and on the second night at
Oak Hill, the birthplace and residence of Chief
Justice Marshall. The house is in the old st3*le
of architecture. Antique furniture, the product
of a past century, filled the rooms, whose walls,
wainscoted from floor to ceiling with polished
oak panels, were adorned with many choice
paintings. Here was written Marshall s Life of
"Washington. The estate is in possession of a
grandson; but the numerous descendants of the
chief justice residing in the neighborhood, for
getting the virtues of their illustrious ancestor,
gave all their influence to break down the gov
ernment that Marshall labored to render firm
and enduring.
It was nine o clock on the third night before
we reached Front Royal. The march of the last
day was long and wearisome, and for several
hours during the latter part of it, through a vio
lent rain-storm. A black cloud shut out moon
PURSUIT OF JACKSON. 79
and stars, and when the halt was ordered, we
were lighted to our bivouac, in a thicket of
pines, by vivid flashes of lightning that followed
each other in quick succession. But much of
the weariness of the march was forgotten in the
striking beauty of the country through which we
passed. The Blue Ridge was in sight from early
morning, and toward evening the hills began to
close us in on every side. An hour before sun
down the head of the column entered Manassas
Gap, a break in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which
looks like one of nature s efforts to help man.
Without it the mountain would be an insuperable
barrier against railroad or stage-coach. Un-
equaled for its wild sublimity, it was rendered
doubly impressive by the army of men and horse
crowding its way through the narrow defile.
Front Royal was the scene of the gallant re
sistance made by Kenly s Maryland Regiment
against Jackson s advance guard. But before
assistance could be sent from Strasburg, they
were overcome by numbers, and most of the
regiment fell on the battle-field, or into the
hands of the enemy.
Belle Boyd, whose subsequent career as a rebel
spy has made her name notorious, appeared first
at Front Royal. For several days prior to the
attack she had been a visitor in the town, and
through her information of the isolated position
of Kenly s command was communicated to the
rebel general.
80 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
The long roll of the drum early next morning
brought each man from his hiding-place in the
pines, and the march was continued toward
Strasburg. The clouds had all cleared away, and
a bright sun shone upon mountain and valley.
Ord s entire division had now come together.
The beautiful morning the picturesque sur
roundings the fine appearance of the troops
all conspired to make a scene full of spirit and
animation.
The sight must have been as inspiring to Gen
eral McDowell, who had accompanied the divi
sion from Falmouth, as to others; for not more
than three miles from our bivouac the troops
were drawn up in line for a grand review. But
Stonewall Jackson did not choose to wait several
hours on our parade. While we were thus
amusing ourselves, he was pushing rapidly south
ward through Strasburg, Fremont s advance com
ing up barely in time to exchange a few shots
with the Confederate rear-guard.
Next day HartsufTs Brigade was advanced
across the South Fork of the Shenandoah, and
again, on the day following, across the North
Fork, to Water-lick Station, two miles from
Strasburg. It had rained incessantly for forty-
eight hours. The Shenandoah was rapidly filling
up its banks, and no longer fordable. The only
bridge across the Xorth Fork was a railroad
bridge; and this, together with the temporary
ESCAPE OF JACKSON. 81
structure across the South Fork, was yielding
to the pressure of the angry waters.
On the 4th of June, the brigade, then the ad
vance of the division, was ordered back to Front
Royal. To cross the several pieces of artillery
and the wagons that had accompanied the troops,
over the railroad bridge, was not thought possi
ble, and orders were given to abandon them.
But a little practical good sense, acting outside
of the usual routine of military operations, easily
overcame the apparently insurmountable diffi
culty, saving to the government a battery of four
guns and ten or twelve wagons, and securing the
troops, already greatly chagrined at the escape
of Jackson, from further mortification. A detail
of men from the Eleventh Regiment, with the
colonel to direct operations, denuded an adjacent
mill and several extensive out-houses of every
available piece of timber. In a few hours the rail
road bridge had a substantial flooring, over which
artillery and wagons crossed in perfect safety.
Stonewall Jackson succeeded in evading the
combined forces of Fremont and McDowell to in
tercept his retreat ; and after severe engagements
at Cross Keys and Port Republic, united his
forces with those of General Lee before Rich
mond in time to bear a conspicuous part in the
defeat of McClellan on the Peninsula.
General Fremont concentrated his army in
the Shenandoah Valley, and McDowell s Corps
returned to Manassas.
III.
CHAPTER I.
POPE S VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN.
FOR the third time we pitched our tents on the
wide-spreading plain of Manassas. But not too
familiar did we become with the famous locality
for the service there required of the Eleventh
Regiment two months later.
The last week of June was full of exciting ru
mors. At one time we were to take shipping for
the Peninsula, whither the eyes of the nation
were now turned; the next day s rumor returned
McDowell to Fredericksburg by the overland
route. Marching orders were received on the
4th of July morning, not for the Peninsula, nor
for Fredericksburg, but for Warrenton. By an
order from Washington, read to all the troops,
the three corps of Fremont, Banks, and McDow
ell were constituted the Army of Virginia, under
command of General John Pope ; and the march
to Warrenton was the beginning of Pope s cam
paign in Virgini i.
Never before was there so much opposition to
marching orders. And not much wonder, when
(82)
POPE S CAMPAIGN BEGUN. 83
the march so interfered with the grand 4th of July
celebration, for which there had been becoming
preparation. Camps were decorated with arches,
and festooned with evergreens, in honor of the
day Our friends of the Ninetieth Pennsylvania
sent North for tire-works to enliven the evening.
But instead of the proposed jubilee, came a swelt
ering march of ten miles over dusty roads, and a
bivouac at night near the little village of Gaines
ville.
On the evening of the second day the troops
encamped in sight of Warrenton. It had seen
none of the ravages of war, and was a handsome
Virginia town of broad, clean streets, containing
many elegant private residences, hid in groves of
oak and maple, or surrounded by tasteful lawns,
ornamented with shrub and flower.
General Blenker s troops passed through the
place some time previous, leaving a mortal dread
behind them of everything clad in Yankee blue.
The general did not wait for Pope s order to sub
sist off the country, but supplied his men with
whatever the merchants happened to have on
hand. When they entered the drug stores, his
directions were to take only the fullest jars on
the shelves, without respect to what they con
tained. The general was always noted for hav
ing a well-stocked hospital.
What with our shaded encampment, on a farm
adjoining the town, and the easy duty required
of the men, the stay at Warrenton, though of
84 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
nearly three weeks continuance, was without the
usual monotony of camp life. We had very little
intercourse with the citizens. Xow and then a
gentleman was to he met who seemed disposed
to exchange courtesies; but the bitterest of all
rebels were the women. Our lady readers, how
ever, must be informed that brass buttons and
shoulder straps were as potent in reaching the fe
male heart at the South as they were at the 2s"orth,
and many a Southern damsel, with strong dis
union proclivities, has been brought to a better
state of mind by the polite attentions of some
gallant Yankee soldier.
On the 22d of July, Ricketts s Division (Gen
eral J. B. Ricketts having succeeded General
Ord) was moved from Warrenton to Waterloo,
eight miles distant, on the Luray pike, where the
road crosses the Upper Rappahannock. Waterloo
was the site of an extensive woolen mill, manufac
turing large quantities of cloth for the Southern
army. The establishment was destroyed by Gen
eral Banks because the proprietor, who claimed
to be an English subject, insisted upon prose
cuting his contraband trade.
Camp near Waterloo is remembered for the
beauty of its location, and the abundant supply
of pure cold water. When an army bivouacs for
a night only, little attention is paid to the selec
tion of grounds. But it is very different when
the stay is to be protracted for days or weeks.
The selection once made, streets are laid out with
CAMP NEAR WATERLOO. 85
the nicest of regularity, 011 either side of which
the tents of the men are pitched in double rows,
each row facing a street. Trenches are dug for
purposes of drainage, unsightly objects are re
moved, and a neat city, with perfect uniformity
in its buildings, both as to shape and color, springs
up in a day.
The picture would not be complete without a
night scene. Each tent is then illuminated with
the nightly allowance of two inches of candle.
Those myriads of little lights, twinkling and
dancing all around, often play fantastic tricks
with the imagination of the beholder. As the
shadows of evening hide all outward objects from
view, how easy for the soldier to trace in those
camp lights the streets of his own native town,
and the very street in which he lives, and his
own house
" with its light in the window,"
sure sign that the loved watcher is waiting for
him. A loud blast from the bugle awakens the
volunteer from his reverie. It is the signal to
put out lights, and a moment later the beautiful
vision has faded into darkness.
WEDNESDAY, July 30. Spent most of the day
in Warrenton, looking after the sick of the regi
ment, left there in hospital when we marched to
Waterloo. Shedron, a member of Co. C, died
8
86 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
last night, and was buried this morning. -Poor
fellow. In rny possession are several letters ad
dressed to him from home. What words of ten
derness and affection they contained, that might
have cheered his heart, came all too late.
General Pope arrived in town this afternoon,
much to the displeasure of all seceshdom, but
greatly to the joy of the whole army. We are
hoping that he will make good the promise of a
vigorous prosecution of the war throughout this
Virginia valley.
While in Warrenton, and as a member of the
board of appraisers appointed by General Hart-
suff, whose business it is to assess damages done
to the grounds upon which the brigade encamps,
called on the proprietor of our late encamp
ment adjoining the town. He is a gentleman
of fine social qualities, who made us welcome
to his house ; but, like all the rest of the promi
nent men of this State, violently opposed to the
Federal Government. The gentleman complained
that any damages we might assess could not be
recovered unless he took the oath of allegiance,
in which case he would be an alien from the State
of Virginia, and in the event of the success of
the South, must lose all.
In. the case of Mr. Horner, the damages as
sessed were larger than usual. We were three
weeks on his estate, and one of the tenant houses,
in which a colored man lay sick with small-pox,
ARMY OF VIRGINIA. 87
and where he died, before the body was removed
was ordered to be burned, to prevent the spread
of the infection.
FRIDAY, August 1. General John Pope, ac
companied by Generals McDowell and Ricketts,
and their respective staff officers, reviewed Hart-
sufPs Brigade at seven o clock this morning. It
was a very quiet review. The men do not like
the tone of the recent orders issued by General
Pope, nor the covert reflections on the courage
of the eastern army, which they think those or
ders contain. As he sat on horseback, the gen
eral seemed of manners so unassuming as to
make one wonder whether he or his adjutant,
who appeared far more important than his supe
rior, had written the objectionable orders.
The Peninsular campaign was at an end.
General McClellan had effected a change of
base from the York River to the James, concen
trating the remnant of his army at Harrison s
Landing. It now became apparent what was
expected of the Army of Virginia. Washington
was to be protected, the Valley of the Shenan-
doah guarded, and by operating on the enemy s
lines of communication tow r ard Gordonsville, it
was intended to draw oft* a large part of Lee s
forces from Richmond, thus enabling the Army
of the Potomac to escape from Harrison s Land
ing.
88 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
On the morning of August 4th, Ricketts s Di
vision broke camp at Waterloo, and marched
for Culpeper, the first step toward Gordonsville.
The country through which we passed was of
rare natural beauty. Many stately mansions were
here and there to be seen, but a Northerner failed
to discover the taste so apparent at home in the
surrounding grounds and out-buildings. The
straggling and inferior negro quarters, always
near the main residence, are an insuperable bar
rier to neatness in external arrangement, or taste
in appearance.
The old South Fork Church, near Robertson
River, where we bivouacked after the first day s
march, was an object of curiosity. Erected in
the days of the colonies, the internal structure,
of the style of a century ago, remains unchanged,
even to the high-back pews and lofty pulpit.
Here was to be seen the Yankee propensity for
recording autographs on prominent places, and
from the walls of the old church one might al
most have made a muster-roll of the entire
army.
The march was resumed at four o clock of the
following morning, and toward sundown of Au
gust 6th we encamped near Culpeper. Two clays
marching, with the thermometer indicating a
hundred degrees, was hard work, and the troops
enjoyed the succeeding day of rest and quiet.
Already the ubiquitous Stonewall Jackson had
BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 89
arrived at Gordonsville, and scouts from the front
reported that the enemy was crossing the Rapidan
River at several different points. Late on Fri
day afternoon Ricketts s Division was quickly
formed, and moved through Culpeper to a point
two miles beyond, where the road from Madison
Court House intersects the road from Culpeper
to Cedar Mountain. General Banks was three
miles distant to the right, near Cedar Mountain.
If the enemy was moving on Culpeper from
Orange Court House, he would first strike
Banks s line, but if he came from Madison,
Ricketts s Division lay across his track.
The night passed without alarm ; but with the
morning of August 9th came authenticated re
ports that Jackson was showing himself in front of
Cedar Mountain. Some hours later there was
heard an occasional artillery discharge, and, as
the day wore away, the firing increased in near
ness and rapidity. From a knoll, near where the
troops had rested on their arms from early morn
ing, batteries could be seen getting into position
and opening fire.
The greatest impatience was manifested by the
men of Ricketts s Division, and when the for
ward command was given, about five o clock in
the evening, no time was lost in getting into line.
We moved directly toward Cedar Mountain, and
soon began to see evidences of the battle that
had been fought so near us. Those of the
JO STOHY OF THE REGIMENT.
wounded able to walk were moving slowly to the
rear. Others, again, were supported by the arm
of a companion, and at last they came in long
lines of ambulances. As the Eleventh drew
nearer to the battle-field, the men halted for a
moment to be relieved of knapsacks, and then
pushed on with a quickened step.
It was quite dark when Ricketts s Division
reached the position held by Banks s right dur
ing the day. A renewal of the engagement was
hardly expected before morning. But as Banks
withdrew to give place to McDowell, concealed
under cover of the night, the enemy had followed
after; and while Ricketts was getting into posi
tion, opened upon us a furious cannonade. The
suddenness of the attack, and the surrounding
darkness that hid the enemy from view, save as
the flash of the guns revealed his presence, was
to many an experience strange and startling.
Moving forward through the heavy fire, Hart-
suff s Brigade was placed under shelter of a
stretch of rolling ground. Batteries were now
got into position, and the answers returned from
the Federal lines were as savage as the messages
received. In the comparative safety the rising
ground afforded, w T e could distinctly trace, by the
burning fuse, the shells from our own and the rebel
batteries, as they went hissing overhead through
the heavy night air. The firing was kept up un
til after midnight, the enemy expending most of
BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 91
his shell on a dense woods some distance to our
right,
The losses in the brigade were confined to the
Twelfth Massachusetts and Eleventh Pennsylva
nia. The former had one commissioned officer
killed, and ten men wounded. The Eleventh
reported three wounded.
A little before daylight of next day, the regi
ment moved from the open ground where it lay
in line of battle all night, to the rear of the woods
so lately shelled by the enemy. We were in the
front line, in momentary expectation of the re
newal of yesterday s conflict.
Conscious that the chaplain, non-combatant
and unarmed, ought to escape harm, perhaps it
was easy for the men to believe that he would
escape. On that morning one and another of
officers and men, who well knew the rapacious
character of the foe, and his intense hatred of
everything belonging to Pope s army, came to
commit to the chaplain whatever of value was
about their person.
" This is for my wife, if I am killed or taken
prisoner," said one.
" This is for my mother," said another.
Placing a valuable ring on our finger and a
folded paper in our hand, a young man said: "If
I do not come out of this day s fight, please send
the ring as therein directed."
But the enemy did not attack ; and the day
92 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
passed in unlooked-for quiet. Under a flag of
truce, the llth of August was spent in caring for
the wounded left on the field, and in burying the
dead. On the 12th, our scouts reported that Jack
son was falling back across the Rapidan River.
The Union loss in killed, wounded, and miss
ing was fifteen hundred. If General Banks
wanted to test the fighting qualities of his corps,
he must have been greatly elated at the result of
the battle of Cedar Mountain. But it was a use
less and wicked sacrifice of life, to contend for
half a day with double his number, when thou
sands of troops, impatient to assist, were within
an hour s march.
Three days after the rebel army retired across
the Rapidan, Pope s entire force was posted
along its north bank. From Cedar Mountain we
followed in the track of the retreating enemy.
The road was strewed with tattered garments,
abandoned equipments, and- here and there a
broken-down wagon, the debris of battle. Graves
were everywhere, and of a size to indicate that
large numbers of the dead had been buried to
gether.
Leaving the advancing column for a time, we
rode over the battle-field, and to the top of
Cedar Mountain. Here was the residence of
Mr. Slaughter, the owner of the estate, and from
whom the hill is sometimes called Slaughter
Mountain a name by which it should evermore
ADVANCE TO THE RAPIDAN. 93
be known. The proprietor is an Episcopal clergy
man, and his house among the most homelike we
had seen in Virginia. But everything was in
ruins; and over the yard were strewed fragments
of elegant furniture, and valuable books and
papers, the collection probably of two or three
generations. Several books were brought away
from the deserted mansion, that we retain in our
keeping to be restored to their rightful owner.
CHAPTER II.
FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE RAPPAHANNOCK.
AT that opportune moment, and by one of
those little events which men call accidents, for
want of faith in an overruling Providence, the
plans and intentions of the enemy became fully
known. The adjutant-general of Stuart s cavalry
was captured by our scouts, having on his person
a letter from General Lee, dated at Gordonsville.
It was therein revealed that the whole Confed
erate force was coming against Pope; that the
Army of Virginia was to be overwhelmed before
reinforcements could reach it from the James
River.
The authorities at Washington had declared
94 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
that if the two armies of Pope and McClellan could
only be united, the country was saved beyond a
doubt. To secure a union so desirable, Pope s first
move was to abandon the line of the Rapidan for
the more defensible one of the Rappahanuock.
August 19th, as we lay near Mitchell s Station,
orders came to prepare to march. The wagon
trains moved toward Culpeper soon after the
receipt of the order; but it was eleven o clock at
night before the troops began filing off on the
same road taken by the trains. Xothing in sol
dier life was so much to be dreaded as a night
march. The sullenness of such vast bodies of
men in motion itself oppressive is strangely
increased by the absence of all genial sunshine.
The frequent halts, to allow the lumbering
wagon trains to clear the road, detained the in
fantry until long after daylight in passing through
Culpeper. Rank and file well understood that
the rebels were in close pursuit, and that every
thing depended upon the crossing of the Rappa-
hannock. The heat was intense, and the dust
almost suffocating. At any season of the year that
part of Virginia is only poorly supplied with water;
but in the parching August month the springs are
nearly dried up, and pure, cold water a rare lux
ury. Yet through heat and dust, and almost
famishing with thirst, the army pushed heroically
forward. Many there were, indeed, whose phys
ical endurance was not equal to the trial; and
GREETINGS IN CULPEPER. 95
throwing themselves down on the roadside, the
very picture of despair, we were compelled to
abandon them to their uncertain fate.
As we hurried through the town, a little dark-
eyed girl, standing near the street, and swinging
aloft a jaunty bonnet, inflated her lungs with
the morning air to cry out after us:
"Good-by, Yankees. I m glad you re gone!
Good-by, Yankees."
But it was not thus with all our Culpeper
friends. Crossing the deep bed of Mountain
Run, at the northern extremity of the village,
with ambulances and artillery, and officers on
horse, was an old negro man, driving a yoke of
oxen fastened to a rickety wagon, on which were
piled women and children, bedding and boxes,
in wonderful confusion.
"Halloa, uncle, where are you going with that
load of darkies?"
"Gwine w T id you all," was the satisfactory re-
piy-
Whether it was a like preference for the Yan
kees, such as that possessed by their master, or
the goad of the earnest driver that urged them
forward, the oxen kept up with the quick pace of
the troops, and crossed the Rappahannock at the
fording below, while the footmen marched over
the railroad bridge at Rappahannock Station, a
short distance above.
It was nine o clock at night, and no couch of
96 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
down invited to a sounder repose than did the
grassy hillock of our bivouac, on the north side
of the river, after that wearying march of twenty-
five miles.
"Wednesday morning, huge columns of dust,
stretching away in the distance, indicated the
approach of the enemy. An hour later, his
cavalry emerged from the woods, three-quarters
of a mile from the river, ready to carry the
railroad bridge by a gallant charge. But a
strong line of our own horsemen, sent across to
support the infantry pickets, confronted him, and
gave a different turn to his intentions.
Toward noon, Matthews s Pennsylvania Bat
tery, supported by the Eleventh Regiment, was
ordered to occupy a commanding elevation on
the south side of the Rappahannock. Three
hundred yards further in advance was another
slight elevation, and, later in the day, a section
of the battery occupied this new position, the
Eleventh moving forward with it. These move
ments gave us possession of the best defenses on
the enemy s side of the river, completely cover
ing the bridge and the fording, though bringing
us quite near to the position taken by the Con
federates.
There have been few more daring and determ
ined undertakings than that now made by the
Army of Virginia, With a greatly inferior force,
it had stretched itself along the Rappahannock
FIGHT AT RAPPAHANNOCK STATION. 97
in face of an opposing host, bold in the con
sciousness of superior numbers and elated at the
total failure of the Peninsular campaign. It was
not intended that Pope s army, unaided, should
take the field against Lee. The present move
ments were all designed to gain time, that the
hundred thousand veterans from Harrison s Land
ing might join their strength to the fifty thousand
on the Rappahannock. To accomplish this object
we were keeping close connections with Freder-
icksburg and Aquia Creek, the route by which
many of those troops were to reach us. To break
that line of defense, and intercept expected re
inforcements, was, for the time being, the princi
pal object of General Lee.
The Eleventh passed the night on the south
side of the river without molestation, though
every man slept with his hand on his musket,
and was aroused by the breaking of a twig, or
the chirp of a cricket. Thursday morning the
rebels opened a furious fire from several batteries
wheeled into position during the night. But the
defenses thrown up by our men were ample pro
tection from shot and shell ; and though the at
tack lasted for more than an hour, the casualties
in the regiment were only one killed and two or
three wounded.
Simultaneously with the attack at Rappahan
nock Station, a determined effort was made to
break the Union lines at Kelly s Ford, six miles
9
98 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
below, but witb no better success. All day of
Friday comparative quiet prevailed in our front.
Several attempts were made by the enemy so to
place his artillery as to enfilade our position; but
Thompson s Battery and the rest of Hartsuff s
Brigade moved across the river, and every such
effort was anticipated and defeated. The princi
pal engagement was far to the right near Sulphur
Springs. Through the latter part of the fight a
heavy rain-storm prevailed, and the booming of
cannon below was answered by the deep pealing
thunder above.
Saturday morning dawned full of intense ex
citement. The heavy rain of the night before
began to be seen in the rapid rising of the river.
Shortly after midnight, a temporary bridge, built
to facilitate the crossing of reinforcements, or the
retreat of Hartsuff if need be, was washed away
by the flood; and lodging against the railroad
bridge, threatened to carry it down also. Every
moment the river was swelling higher and higher,
and every moment increasing the danger to the
bridge.
The other three regiments composing the
brigade were ordered across to the north side of
the Rappahannock, carrying all the batteries
with them but the two guns that remained with
the Eleventh on the advance knoll. Some mo
ments later, orders came for the Eleventh also to
retire, excepting Cos. I and K. These two com-
FIGHT AT RAPPAHANNOCK STATION. 99
panies, with the guns of Thompson s Battery,
took- the first position of Wednesday. At the
same time Co. B recrossed to the south side, and
was placed to guard the approach to the bridge.
Now came on the rebels, cavalry, artillery, and
infantry, crowding toward the river, and jostling
each other for the position so lately evacuated
by the Eleventh. But too surely did death meet
the few, braver than their companions, that h rst
made the ascent of the vacated hill for others to
try it, until the little squad of two companies,
whose guns were never silent, should be routed
from their stronghold. Against our last position
the whole rebel lire was concentrated. The men
increased the hight of the breastworks by piling
up their knapsacks, and thus, in close quarters
with the enemy, awaited the signal to retire. At
last it came, and under cover of our guns on the
north bank, the companies crossed the river with
out the loss of a man. The batteries were then
turned against the bridge, and in ten minutes
not a timber remained standing.
The Rappahannock was at flood hight; the
fordings were all sunk, and withdrawing from
the river and marching toward Warrenton, the
Eleventh bivouacked Saturday night in sight of
the town.
100 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER III.
POPE RETREATING NORTHWARD.
FOR two days the enemy was reported in large
force, moving up toward the right of the lines.
Sunday morning Ricketts s Division was sent in
the direction of Sulphur Springs, where it was
supposed Lee might attempt a crossing. Monday
we were pushed still further to the right; and on
Tuesday afternoon, the division was thrown across
the Warrenton pike, near Waterloo Bridge.
In the midst of this last shifting of position,
fifty men, the first installment of Co. G, com
manded by Lieutenant A. G. Happer, joined the
regiment. They came to Warrenton by railroad,
loaded down with heavy overcoats, blankets, and
extra clothing, that some dishonest quartermaster
had imposed upon them. But though only raw
recruits, unskilled in the ways of war, and with
out training either in the manual of arms or in
marching, they soon learned to adapt themselves
to the exciting surroundings. Knapsacks were
emptied of their contents along the roadside; and
thus relieved of the one striking peculiarity
a John Bunyan load on their shoulders the re
cruits of Co. G were lost in the rapidly moving
column.
THE RAPPAHANNOCK ABANDONED. 101
Scouts continued to say that the Confederates
were marching toward our right, and by Wed
nesday evening it was known that Jackson had
passed through Thoroughfare Gap, and was con
centrating his corps at Manassas Junction.
So confident was General Pope that troops
from the Peninsular army would be at the points
assigned to them, and at the time designated,
that Jackson s movement in the direction of
Salem and White Plains had given no uneasi
ness, as his passage through Thoroughfare Gap
would not have been possible. But on the night
of the 26th of August, telegraphic communica
tions with Washington were interrupted, and
Pope knew that reinforcements, from the quar
ter expected, had failed him. The Federal com
mander now determined to abandon the line of
the Eappahannock, and throw his whole force
upon the enemy that had passed through the
Gap, hoping to destroy Jackson before the rest
of Lee s army could come to his support.
Wednesday night McDowell s Corps bivouacked
near Gainesville. Thursday morning had a pronir
ising look for the capture of Jackson. He could
not retrace his steps toward Thoroughfare, be
cause the sudden and unexpected movement of
Pope placed Sigel and McDowell between him
and retreat in that direction. Xo other course
was left to Jackson but to retire toward Cen-
terville: and as that carried him still further
9*
102 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
from Lee, it increased the probabilities of his
capture.
Everything depended upon quick and energetic
work. Reinforcements must first reach the rebel
general by way of Thoroughfare, and General
McDowell ordered Ricketts s Division to march
direct for that point, while the rest of the corps
moved on to Manassas Junction. Harts ivff s
Brigade, under command of Colonel Stiles of
the Ninth Xew York (General HartsurF having
been left sick at Warrenton), was in the advance
of the division; and the Eleventh Pennsylvania,
more familiar with the country than any other
regiment, led the brigade.
At Haymarket, couriers reported that our cav
alry held the Gap, but the enemy was advancing
in strong column from "White Plains. If the rebels
could be kept in check two hours at Thorough
fare, McDowell had assured General Ricketts that
Jackson and his whole force would be captured.
Heavy and rapid firing was heard in the direction
of Manassas. The other divisions of the corps
were evidently performing their part of the great
work then to be done, and every man in Ricketts s
Division was anxious that we should do the part
assigned to us. Within a mile of the Gap the
cavalry were met retiring toward Haymarket.
They had been driven back, and the enemy held
the pass. A quarter of a mile further brought
our own skirmish line in sight of that of the
rebels.
BATTLE OF THOROUGHFARE GAP. 103
It was now the middle of the afternoon, and
until the sun went down did the contest continue
for possession of that mountain Gap. The en
emy could not bring his artillery into position,
and such was the nature of the ground, that for
our own batteries there was little use. It was a
musketry fight, but the Bull Run Mountain, in
whose face was the tiring, seemed to catch each
distinct volley, and in returning it again, the
echoes were so loud and long as to remind one
only of booming cannon and bursting shells.
Gradually the Confederates were pressed back
to the entrance of the pass, where they were
found to be in possession of Chapman s Mill,
within the Gap, and of the bights on either side.
Every foot of those hills was as familiar to the
men of the Eleventh as a residence of several
weeks could make them, and though nobly sup
ported by the rest of the brigade, the brunt of
the battle was met by the Eleventh Eegiment
gallantly leading the way. Pushing up the hill
to the right of the Gap, against a severe fire
from the enemy concealed behind the mills, our
men finally succeeded in establishing a strong
line on the summit of the ridge. The steep and
rugged character of the ground over which they
were contending rendered a further advance im
possible. But if the Eleventh could not advance,
neither could it be driven back, and the colonel
maintained his position until ordered to retire.
104 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
For more than four hours the enemy was held
in check. But it cost the regiment eighteen men
killed and thirty-seven wounded. Among the
killed were Captain Shanks, of Co. B, and Lieu
tenant Saxton, of Co. D. Among the severely
wounded were Captain Keenan, of Co. K, and
Lieutenant Tapp, of Co. B. Our killed and many
of the wounded were left on the field. Those
brought off were made as comfortable in hospi
tal as the one solitary house near by would allow.
When the division retired, the wounded were all
placed in ambulances and brought off with the
troops, rather than leave them to the tender mer
cies of the rebels.
The men of the Eleventh and other regiments
of the brigade, as well as the few wounded South
erners that fell into our hands, had occasion to
remember the kindness and unselfish devotion of
Surgeon Anawalt, in charge of the regiment, and
of Assistant Surgeon Phelps, who, two weeks
before, had reported for duty.
The division fell back to Gainesville, and halted
until morning. Less than a quarter of a mile
distant was the entire force of Lon^street, neither
O
commander knowing of the nearness of the other
until the order of General McDowell, directing
Bicketts to move at once to Manassas Junction,
revealed it. The aid-de-camp lost his way, and
did not reach our bivouac until the day had
dawned. But a veil-like mist was between the
HOSPITAL AT MANASSAS. 105
two armies, and, marching by way of Bristow
Station, the division came up with the rest of the
corps at Manassas.
During the night two of the men died in the
ambulances. On a little knoll near Bristow we
placed them side by side in a single grave, in that
sleep which neither the tramp of advancing or
receding armies, nor the din of battle so often
heard around that spot, has ever disturbed.
Scarcely had the division rested half an hour
at Manassas until it was again ordered to Gaines
ville. Pope s plans had not been fully carried
out by all the corps, and a break in the line was
then discovered that might, as indeed it did, de
feat everything.
It was now noon of Friday, August 29th. We
had in our ambulances thirty or forty wounded
men, for whom little had been done since the
previous evening. It was impossible for these
longer to follow the division. .Dr. Phelps and the
chaplain of the Eleventh were directed to place
them in hospital as near as might be to the Junc
tion. Half a mile distant to the east, was a small
dwelling, occupied by two old persons, who
strongly objected to having their house taken for
a hospital. But it was the only building near, and
we were compelled to disregard their protest.
The sight of suffering, however, touched the heart
of the old lady, and, woman like, she did will
ingly what she could to make the wounded easy
and comfortable.
106 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER IV.
SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
DURING Friday afternoon Dr. Phelps was joined,
at our improvised hospital, by two other surgeons
of the brigade. Leaving the doctors in charge of
the wounded, early Saturday morning we started
in search of Ricketts s Division, going in the di
rection of Gainesville.
Four miles from the Junction, a squad of cav
alry reported Gainesville in possession of the
rebels, and that their picket line extended but a
short distance up the road we were riding. Leav
ing a path so beset with danger, and taking the
direction indicated by the cavalry, who pursued
their way to Manassas, we came up with the
troops north of the Warrenton pike, and in sight
of the stone house. The division, diverted from
its march to Gainesville by later orders, had
passed the night near Bull Run.
Although there had been severe fighting most
of the day of Friday by the several corps of the
army, nothing decisive was gained. The rebel
forces, since coming through Thoroughfare, had
nearly completed a circle. Sweeping down over
Manassas plains and along the hights of Center-
PORTER DISOBEYS ORDERS. 107
ville, capturing immense supplies of stores, and
destroying a million of dollars worth of prop
erty, all that day Jackson boldly manoeuvred to
rest his right flank on Gainesville.
At an early hour McDowell and Porter were
ordered to move their respective corps to that
point of the field, where Jackson might have
been attacked on the flank and in the rear before
reinforcements reached him. The troops in front
listened anxiously for the signal of assault on
the enemy s right. Repeated artillery discharges,
coming from that direction in the afternoon,
awakened the hope that Porter and McDowell
were then both at work. But suddenly all was
again quiet.
Some time later, General McDowell was an
nounced through a courier as moving along the
Sudley Springs road, to join the main army in
front. Peremptory orders were then sent to Gen
eral Porter, who commanded the largest corps in
the army, and had undergone less fatigue, to
move on to Gainesville, and at once attack the
enemy. When a sufficient time had elapsed for
Porter to get into position, a furious attack was
made upon the rebel left, completely breaking
the line, and throwing it back on the center; and
if a like spirited attack had been made on the rebel
right, the day would have been won to the Fed
eral army. But the order of General Pope was
disobeyed. Porter did not march to Gainesville,
nor did he encounter the enemv.
108 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
The complexion of affairs throughout the en
tire field was materially changed on Saturday
morning. Longstreet had united his corps with
Jackson by way of Thoroughfare, and Lee s entire
force was concentrated at Gainesville. The high
est estimate of Pope s army, at that critical mo
ment, was forty thousand men. He had given
up all hope of any assistance from the army ar
rived at Washington and Alexandria from the
Peninsula, and to delay the further advance of
the enemy toward the capital, the Federal com
mander determined to renew the engagement.
The first movement was on the right, by Heint-
zelman and Reno, to whose support Ricketts s
Division was at once sent. Colonel Stiles had
been returned to his regiment, and Iiartsuff"s
Brigade was under command of General Towers.
The order to move to the right reached the
Eleventh as we sat around the mid-day meal
of coffee and hard bread, spread out on the
ground, with a gum poncho for a table cloth.
Never will be forgotten that hurried dinner on
the Bull Run battle-field. From the organiza
tion of the regiment, the headquarters mess con
sisted of the three field officers and the chaplain.
At that meal all were present, and with us, as in
vited guests, were the surgeon and the adjutant.
Soon after Heintzel man s attack on the right,
the enemy made a furious assault along our whole
line; but most severely was he felt on the ex-
RICKETTS S DIVISION ON THE LEFT. 109
treme left. The left of the Federal line was
south of the Warrenton turnpike, and termin
ated with Bald Hill, a low but commanding ridge
rising above the road, and sloping down into
broad open fields in front, that were bordered,
half a mile away, by a thick forest of timber.
McDowell s Corps was already on the left with
its lines formed on Bald Hill, and recalled from
the right, Ricketts s Division marched rapidly
across the battle-field to rejoin it.
A score of batteries, posted on the top of the
ridge, commanded every foot of the open fields;
and though at each separate discharge whole
lines of advancing rebels were swept down in
death, still they came pouring forth from the
dark woods beyond with daring impetuosity.
Dreadful, too, was the carnage in the Union
ranks on Bald Hill. Entire regiments seemed to
melt away in an instant. One moment a strong
line was seen advancing with steady step to the
top of the ridge; the next moment it came roll
ing back in disordered and straggling masses.
Other lines took the place of the broken columns
only to meet a similar fate. The left was a mael
strom, that swallowed up everything coming
within its fatal reach.
Conspicuous on that part of the ground was
Towers s Brigade. " The conduct of the brigade,
in plain view of all the forces on the left, was
especially distinguished; and drew forth heart} 7
10
110 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
and enthusiastic cheers. The example of the
men was of great service, and infused new spirit
into all the troops that witnessed their intrepid
conduct." *
In the thickest of the engagement General
Towers was seriously wounded and taken from
the field. Colonel Stiles was absent on detached
duty; Colonel Fletcher Webster, of the Twelfth
Massachusetts, was among the early slain on the
left, and the command of the brigade devolved
upon Colonel Coulter, the next ranking officer.
"Do the best you can to hold the position,
colonel," were the words of General Towers, as
he passed to the rear.
The battle had gone seriously with the Eleventh.
Colonel Martin was killed instantly. Major Frink
was seen to fall, shot through the head. Lieu
tenant Dalby, of Co. E, and Lieutenant Hyndman,
of Co. D, were killed at the same moment. Cap
tain Cribbs, of Co. I, and Lieutenant McClintock,
of Co. C, lay at the foot of the hill in a dying
condition. Lieutenant Weaverling, of Co. A,
Lieutenant Haines, of Co. B, Captain Bierer
and Lieutenant Shawl, of Co. C, and Captain E.
H. Rauch, of Co. H, were among the severely
wounded. The command of the regiment de
volved upon Adjutant Uncapher, and maintained
its place, until of three hundred and forty-six
Pope s official Report.
RETREAT TO CENTERVILLE. Ill
men, twenty-two were killed, and one hundred
and fifty-four wounded and missing.
But no valor or heroic daring could withstand
the numbers and fury of the rebels. Reinforce
ments were coming up slowly, and resistance
was almost at an end, when a wild hurrah, and
a murderous volley of artillery and musketry far
to the left, told that the enemy had completely
flanked our position, and the day was lost.
Singly and in squads of a dozen, but hardly in
companies, the Army of Virginia retreated across
Bull Run, resting at night on the hights of Cen-
terville.
The miserable town presented a woeful appear
ance on that next Sabbath morning. Those of
the wounded that could endure to walk had
found their way hither from the battle-field, and
could now be seen by scores stretched out in the
yards, and along the side-walks, as well as crowded
into the houses and out-sheds of the wretched
place. There were wounds about the head that
stained the face and matted the hair with blood.
Others were carrying hands mangled and torn
by bursting shells, while many were faint and
dying from loss of blood and want of nourish
ment. Many hands, though the willing instru
ments of hearts full of sympathy, and actively
engaged throughout all of that day, could do
scarcely more than reach the most needy of the
needful throw g.
112 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Fearful of those formidable Centerville Lights,
that his own men had rendered impregnable,
General Lee did not venture to follow our retreat
across Bull Run. But the whole country to the
left was opened before him, and with scarcely an
hour s halt in his movements, the first of Sep
tember showed his troops on the Aldie pike,
marching hard upon our right flank. The design
of the enemy was too transparent to be disguised.
It was a bold attempt to reach Fairfax Court
House in our rear. Centerville was no longer
tenable ground; and with its thousands of
wounded and dying, was given up to the enemy.
If the persistent foe, elated by a second victory
at Bull Run, expected to make short work of the
jaded and worn-out Army of Virginia, by cutting
off its only avenue of retreat, he made a sorry
mistake. Within three miles of Fairfax his path
was crossed by a triple line of brave and valorous
hearts, that neither incessant marching, nor skirm
ishes, nor battles with thrice their number, could
overwhelm or defeat.
The battle of Chantilly, where the gallant
Kearney gave up his life, was a final check to all
efforts on the part of the Confederate general to
get in between Pope and the capital. But as
the rebels continued to march by the left flank,
and were disappearing from our front, Pope s
entire army fell back within the fortifications of
Washington. On the morning of September 2d,
ARMY WITHIN THE FORTIFICATIONS. 113
moving from the banks of Difficult Creek where
it had been placed in position the evening before,
holding the enemy in check in front, while Reno
and Kearney attacked on the flank, Ricketts s
Division encamped at night on Hall s Hill, in
sight of the Potomac.
Pope s Virginia campaign was now at an end.
Seldom has one army been asked to undergo what
the men of the Army of Virginia performed.
Ck For fifteen days, with scarcely half a day s in
termission, it was either making forced marches,
many times through the night, and many times
without food, or else engaged in battle. These
fatigues were most severe toward the last, when,
on account of the movements of the enemy, we
had separated from our supplies, and many gen
erals, as well as private soldiers, had no food, or
only such as could be picked up in the orchards
or cornfields along the road. In all this the
patience and endurance and good conduct of the
men were admirable. To fight and retreat, and
retreat and fight, in the face of a superior force,
is a severe test of soldiership."*
But General McDowell omitted to say, that all
the fatigues of that campaign were endured by
the men, not only without that confidence in the
leading generals, from which comes the enthu
siasm of an army, but with a positive aversion
McDowell s Report.
10*
114 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
toward them. At the very outset, by the tone
of his orders, and the self-superior style of his
addresses, General Pope made an unfavorable
impression upon the troops, an impression that
was never corrected.
With General McDowell the case was still
worse. Besides an utter want of faith in his
competency as a field commander, the wildest
stories of complicity with the rebels were cir
culated and believed concerning him. During
the excessive hot days of the campaign, the gen
eral wore a cool and becoming bambo hat, of
peculiar Shape. But the troops declared that it
was especially designed as a distinguishing mark
to the enemy. To such a hight did the feeling
prevail, that when the rumor was circulated,
on the last day of the Bull Run battle, that Mc
Dowell had been shot by Sigel for open acts of
treason, there were few who cared to call the
truth of the rumor in question.
New light has been thrown upon that unfortu
nate, though valorous campaign, chasing away
the darkness of ignorant and unfounded preju
dice, so damaging to the reputation of a gallant
though unsuccessful officer. In that new light
the country can also see how the second battle
of Bull Run might have been a victory instead
of a depressing defeat.
rsr.
CHAPTER I.
REBEL INVASION OF MARYLAND.
THE broad Potomac rolled on toward the At
lantic, through the deep bed of its channel, as
placidly as though no defeated army rested on
its banks, and all unconscious of the sanguinary
contest so soon to be decided near its upper
waters.
The unusual quiet of the few nights passed at
Hall s Hill, wherein there was neither booming
of cannon, nor tramping of men, was a generous
relief to soul and body. To sleep under the
shelter of a tent, with our colored cook Strauthers,
ever faithful and true, to see that the mess-chest
was well supplied, were comforts we had not for
gotten how to appreciate. But we sadly missed
our genial mess-mates, Colonel Martin and Major
Frink.
Colonel Martin fell at the post of duty, and at
the moment when, with bitter curses and loud
imprecations, the rebels were charging upon our
lines on Bald Hill. It was a critical moment,
(115)
116 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
and every man belonging to the Eleventh was
needed in his place. "With an unselfishness per
fectly characteristic, the dying officer said to
those who saw him fall, and had gone to his as
sistance :
"Never niiud me, boys; never mind me. Go
back to the regiment. You are wanted there."
The tide of battle soon swept us far beyond
the spot where his companions left him to die.
But the body was afterward buried by Dr.
Woods, of the Ira Harris Cavalry, an old An
napolis friend, and the place of interment so
carefully marked, that some weeks later the re
mains were recovered, and now rest in Monu
ment Cemetery, Philadelphia.
Barely have we met a person of such high
social qualities, or one who combined so many
elements of the true gentleman. No braver or
more patriotic soldier fell on that field of Bull
Hun than Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas S. Martin.
Passing through the various hospitals in the
City of Washington, looking after the wounded
of the Eleventh, in the register of Armory Hos
pital, our eye fell upon this entry: "Bed 75
Major H. A. Frink, Eleventh Regiment Pennsyl
vania Volunteers." In the list of casualties, we
had counted the major among the killed; and
the frightful gash in the head, that the surgeon
was dressing at the moment we entered, told
how nearly that report had come of being
correct,
M CLELLAN IN COMMAND. 117
The flag of truce party, sent out to gather up
the wounded, overlooked him; and after days of
suffering on the battle-field, without shelter and
without food, and almost totally blind from the
effects of the wound, Major Frink made his w T ay
first to Centerville, where the rebel authorities
paroled him, and finally to Washington.
Among the losses in the brigade, outside of
our own regiment, none was more keenly felt
than the death of Colonel Fletcher Webster, of
the Twelfth Massachusetts. Our first introduc
tion at Falmouth, in the preceding month of
May, had grown into an intimacy still remem
bered with pleasure. The colonel was a brave
and chivalrous soldier; partaking largely of the
warm impulses and noble nature of his illustrious
father.
Four days of rest and quiet, short as was the
time, told wonderfully upon the looks and spirits
of officers and men. It must also be said that a
new enthusiasm had taken hold upon the troops.
As our depleted columns moved slowly back
from Fairfax Court House, to an officer who rode
up at our side, we said:
" This is sad work, captain. I am afraid the
rebels mean to drive us across the river and cap
ture Washington."
O
"^N"o, sir," was the reply. "General McClellan
is in command of the army. It will all be right
now."
118 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
But not even four days of rest had been allowed
to the Confederate army. A new thought was
stirring the active brain of its daring commander.
The seat of war was to be brought northward.
Maryland was to be occupied, and such an up
rising of the people to welcome him as their
deliverer was anticipated by Lee, as to defy the
power of the Federal Government longer to hold
the State in the Union, or dislodge the Southern
army from its firm foothold. The rebel general
was already across the Potomac; and the day the
Eleventh left Hall s Hill, Stuart s cavalry entered
the City of Frederick.
It was midnight of September 6th, as we filed
along .the road leading to Georgetown bridge,
across the Potomac, and through the streets of
Washington. General Hartsuff was again at the
head of the brigade, and General Hooker in com
mand of McDowell s Corps. Hooker was moving
with his corps toward Frederick, not directly,
but over a route that covered the capital and
defended Baltimore from a fiank attack by the
enemy.
Thursday evening we pitched our tents along
side the Baltimore and Frederick turnpike,
twenty miles from the latter place. Whatever
the rebel leaders may have thought of Maryland,
it was quite evident to us that we were in the
land of our friends.
At our second bivouac across the Potomac,
RECRUITS FROM HARRISBURG. 119
Captain John B. McGrew, of Co. G, and fifty
men from Harrisburg, reported to the regi
ment. The first detachment, under Lieutenant
Happer, had nearly disappeared in the battles of
Thoroughfare Gap and Bull Run; and this arrival
of the captain was a timely addition to Co. G. Here
also, on the Frederick pike, we were joined by
Dr. Phelps, direct from Manassas. Not two
hours after we left the hospital, on the morning
of August 30th, a force of rebel cavalry came in
upon them, taking off nurses, drivers, ambu
lances, and horses. Even the horses of the sur
geons were captured; but on application to Colo
nel Rosser, commanding the cavalry, these latter
were restored.
The doctor soon learned of the defeat of the
Union forces, and that all the intervening country
between Manassas and Alexandria was in pos
session of the rebels. At the end of three or
four days, the scanty stock of supplies with which
the hospital opened, was entirely consumed, and
how to subsist thirty or forty wounded men, in a
country where there was nothing to buy, and
nothing to forage, became a serious question.
Riding out toward Centerville, in search of some
one to whom he might apply for assistance, the
doctor fortunately met the flag of truce party.
Rations and ambulances were at once provided,
and all the wounded left at Manassas were
brought to Alexandria.
120 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
It was a Sabbath morning, clear and beau
tiful, when the Federal army marched through
Frederick an event always to be remembered.
For one week the town had been under rebel
rule, a time sufficiently long for even the most
intense Southern sympathizer; and the sight of
the Union ranks filled the people of the place
with extravagant joy. Amid deafening cheers
and flying banners and waving handkerchiefs we
pressed our way through the crowded streets
toward the South Mountain, that rose boldly in
front to the hight of a thousand feet.
The route was along the National road. From
the top of Fairview Hill could be seen the smoke
of the enemy s batteries, and we knew that in
posting himself in Turner s Gap (the main pass
of the mountain), and on the bights on either
side, by which he commanded every way of ap
proach, General Lee had the advantage of posi
tion, and would hold the stronsr mountain de-
O
fense to the last. The Corps of Hooker and Reno,
forming the right wing of the army, were under
command of General Burnside. To attack in
front would have been the extreme of folly. The
only hope was to get on the enemy s flank, and
while Reno was manoeuvring to the left of the
National road, to secure such a result, Hooker s
Corps moved to the right. A short distance from
the Hagerstown pike we struck the old Braddock
road, which crosses the mountain at a point not
BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN. 121
so high as that over which the main road passes^
but of steep and difficult ascent. Two miles
from the pike, we began our upward march.
The Eleventh was on the extreme right of Rick-
etts s Division, and if it made rapid time in reach
ing the crest above, it was because we had learned
at Thoroughfare Gap how to march and fight up
the side of a mountain.
General Lee was too shrewd a commander to
depend entirely upon that steep and rugged hill
side to defend his left flank. Hid in the ravines
washed out by the summer torrents, and shel
tered behind breastworks leisurely constructed,
the enemy awaited our advance. Half way up
to the summit, the crest of the mountain sud
denly gleamed with a sheet of flame. If some
staggered and fell back, meeting those whistling
bullets from above, it only nerved that advancing
column with new determination.
The firing was severest on the left of the corps,
held by the Pennsylvania Reserves; and when
at last a prolonged cheer told that the left of the
mountain top had been carried by Pennsylvania
troops, the old Eleventh, fighting on the right,
sent back the echo of victory from the same high
level.
Many a brave heart met a soldier s fate, climb
ing up the South Mountain. But each foot of
ground wrested from the enemy was securely
held. Xext morning, Hartsuff s Brigade moved
11
1*22 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
cautiously along the Braddock road, over the
deserted breastworks and rifle-pits of the enemy,
until we struck the Xational pike at the Mount
ain House. Turner s Gap was now in the rear.
The attack on the left though the gallant Reno
lost his life in making it was as successful as
that on the right ; and the clouds of dust, rising
from the plains below, told that Lee was in full
retreat toward the Potomac, leaving his killed
and wounded on the field.
If the South Mountain battle had not been
followed so soon by that of Antietam, whose
greater proportions now almost overshadow it, it
would be considered, as indeed it was, a decided
victory over General Lee. Its influence on the
morale of our troops was of far greater advantage
than the loss of men and material of war sus
tained by the enemy. It was a success when, of
everything else, success was needed to restore the
waning confidence of the rank and file. It was
the silver lining to the dark cloud of reverses
that had so long hung over the Potomac Army.
A VIRGINIA CHAPLAIN. 123
CHAPTER II.
M CLELLAN AND LEE ON THE UPPER POTOMAC.
EVERY spot along the road in which a man
could find room to lie down, out of danger of
being trampled to death by the moving columns,
was found occupied by the wounded. The
church at Boonsborough, and many private resi
dences, were converted into rebel hospitals,
giving to the town the appearance of Center-
ville after the battle of Bull Run.
A Virginia chaplain remained behind to take
care of the wounded of his regiment. Their
loss was severe, numbering one or two hundred
in killed and wounded. He was not disposed at
first to be at all cordial, and our proposed good
offices were politely refused. But afterward re
lenting, some assistance we were able to give
was accepted with as much courtesy as it was
before declined.
"Our recent successes over your army have
made us too confident. "We had no thought of
being driven from South Mountain ; and I fear
that your rapid pursuit of General Lee will pre
vent him from crossing the Potomac without
serious loss."
124 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Turning off from the National pike at Boons-
borough into the road leading to Sharpsburg, the
army halted at Kedysville for several hours,
waiting on cavalry operations in the front. Our
advance came up with the enemy, stretched
across the road over which we were marching,
in strong force. When his position was fully
known, it was too late to attack, and the Eleventh
bivouacked for the night a short distance west of
the village.
Tuesday morning revealed that the enemy had
changed his position during the night, and was
now posted along the line of Antietam Creek,
his right near Sharpsburg and his left resting on
Miller s farm. With his usual sagacity, the rebel
general had selected a most advantageous posi
tion. His right flank was protected by a high
ridge a continuance of Maryland Hights, run
ning northward, and his left flank by the Poto
mac River, half a mile distant. Whether Mc-
Clellan might determine to attack the rebel cen
ter, or on either flank, he was compelled to cross
the Antietam, and move over ground swept by
artillery planted on every available spot.
The Federal attack was to be similar to that
made at South Mountain. Hooker s Corps, sup
ported by those of Mansfield and Sumner, was
sent to the right to fall on the enemy s left, while
Burnside was to assault his right. Hooker s
Corps consisted of the three divisions of Generals
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 125
Meacle, Ricketts, and Donbleday. Three o clock
in the afternoon of Tuesday, leaving our bivouac
near Kedysville, and marching in rear of the
first division, Ricketts crossed Antietam Creek
at the upper bridge and the fording at Fray s
mill, and continued moving to the right as far
up as Hoffman s farm.
The day was nearly spent when Hooker s
Corps reached the position assigned it. There
had been desultory firing during the afternoon
in the direction in which we were marching, but
for a time everything had remained in a state of
quiet. Scarcely, however, did we come to a halt
in a field of corn, before the enemy from a copse
woods in front, opened on our ranks with in
fantry and artillery. The advance brigades came
at once into action, and until ten o clock the
severe skirmish was continued.
Thus began, on the evening of September 16th,
the battle of Antietam. Stonewall Jackson had
formed his main battle line on Miller s farm,
and the force so early encountered was a body
of troops thrown out three-quarters of a mile in
advance. If General McClellan had attacked Lee
on Tuesday morning, he would have had thirty
thousand less troops opposed to him. Jackson s
whole corps was absent, and only by a forced
march from Harper s Ferry did it reach the bat
tle-field late on Tuesday morning. In the even
ing the troops were in position on our right,
11*
126 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
and the delay in the battle until Wednesday
morning gave to Jackson and his soldiers a pre
cious season of needed repose.
As the men rested on their arms during that
clear, starlight night, no one could doubt what
the morning would bring forth. Ever and anon,
throughout its wakeful hours, the fierce firing of
the pickets reminded us of the presence of a
stubborn foe.
Just as the gray dawn of the morning of the
17th streaked the sky, a volley of musketry, out
on the picket line, changed the whole appear
ance of those once quiet fields. Up from among
the stalks of corn, sprung ranks of armed men;
while from sheltered woods and every rising
knoll, the artillery of friend and foe was sending
forth shot and shell. Hooker had inaugurated
the great conflict.
In front of General Hooker s position, with
their backs resting against a skirt of timber, were
the forces of Stonewall Jackson, consisting of the
divisions of McLaws, Anderson, and A. P. Hill.
They were the flower of the Confederate army, re
turned from their successful attack on Harper s
Ferry, and placed opposite our right, because there
were to be met the heaviest blows of the battle.
When Hooker said, "This is one of the world s
great days," he must have felt what he expressed;
for his own enthusiasm was imparted to his men.
Nothing could withstand the impetuosity of that
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 127
first attack on the right to carry the rebel posi
tion. The enemy s heavy line of skirmishers
fell back almost without resistance, exposing his
main lines to a determined fire of shell and can
ister, from batteries run out within the closest
possible range. Over the plowed ground that
intervened, through the fields of corn, and into
the woods beyond, were driven the shattered
lines of the rebels.
The fighting had now become general on the
right, and heavy forces of reserves were brought
forward to strengthen and hold the ground we
had Drained in our first assault. But in front of
C
that woods into which the enemy was driven, our
advance halted. Fresh rebel troops were coming
to the rescue of their comrades. Volley after
volley of musketry lighted up its dark bosom, as
line upon line of Confederates issued from it.
The fortune of the day seemed suddenly to
change. The rebels were now advancing; and
our own gallant lines that but a moment before
moved through the cornfield in such overwhelm
ing force, came back broken and depleted. The
watchful eye of Hooker took in the whole scene
at a glance.
" Send me your best brigade," was his message
to Ricketts.
In a moment, Hartsuff s Brigade, that had
been in position on a slight elevation near the
house of Joseph Poffenberger, came down the
128 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
hill on a double-quick, through the open ground
beyond, and into the cornfield; passing, as they
went, the fragments of three brigades shattered
by the rebel fire and now streaming to the rear.
" I think they will hold it," said Hooker, as he
saw that splendid brigade of veteran troops
moving on under a galling and destructive fire.
At the moment of entering the cornfield, a
conspicuous mark to the enemy, the brave Hart-
suff fell from his horse severely wounded.
"Forward, Third Brigade !" rung out the voice
of Colonel Coulter, who succeeded to the com
mand.
" Steadily, but not hurriedly, up the hill they
^o, forming on the crest. Not a man who was not
O / O
in full view not one who bent before the storm.
Firing first in volleys, they fired then at will,
with wonderful rapidity and effect. The whole
line crowned the hill and stood out darkly against
the sky; but lighted and shrouded ever in flame
and smoke. There, for half an hour, they held
the ridge, unyielding in purpose, exhaustless in
courage. There were gaps in the line, but it
nowhere bent. Their supports did not come,
and they determined to win without them. They
were there to win that field, and they won it.
The rebel line for the second time fled through
the corn and into the woods. I cannot tell how
few of HartsufFs Brigade were left when the
work was done, but it was done. There was no
FIGHTING ON THE RIGHT. 129
more gallant, determined, heroic fighting in all
this desperate day."*
The battle had reached a crisis on the right.
Ricketts s Division exhausted itself in the vain
endeavor to advance beyond the woods. Part of
Mansfield s Corps was ordered in to their relief;
but the general was mortally wounded, and the
troops halted on the crest of the hill.
It was nine o clock, and all the fighting had
been done by the Corps of Hooker and Mans
field. Presently Sumner s Corps came on to the
ground, forming to the left of Mansfield. Still
later, French and Richardson arrived, and about
noon the Corps of General Franklin. But though
the troops had fought only in detachments,
Hooker in the morning, then Mansfield, then
Sumner, then Franklin, and Burnside far on the
left, the enemy had been pushed back from
many of his strongest positions, and when wel
come night covered the ensanguined field, the
vantage-ground belonged to the Federal army.
In the thoughts of the men, daylight would
renew the battle, and each soldier stood in his
place, waiting for the coming dawn. But the
whole of Thursday passed without any demon
stration from those lines, still confronting each
other, that only on the yesterday were full of
bitter hostility.
* Geo. X. Smalley, in N. T. Tribune.
130 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Again the shades of night covered Antietam.
Rlcketts s Division held the extreme right of the
army; and the general was cautioned to take
care of his flank. McClellan determined to re
new the attack on Friday morning, with a vigor
increased by one day of rest. But when Friday
came, from every commanding ridge and hidden
ravine, from open fields and sheltered woods,
the enemy had disappeared, and the rapid Po
tomac rolled between the two opposing armies.
The Eleventh went into the battle on Wednes
day morning, a mere handful compared with its
former self, nine commissioned officers, and two
hundred and twenty-six men. The other regi
ments of the brigade were but little larger, for
altogether it only numbered eleven hundred.
Hoffman s farm-house a substantial stone
building was taken for a hospital; and every
moment, from the firing of the first gun at break
of day, until they were relieved by other troops,
the wounded were coming in from Hartsuff s
Brigade. A wounded man naturally desires to
be among his friends ; and by keeping the brigade
together, the surgeons were certain that all
would receive like proper care and attention.
In what quick succession they seemed to come
from that angry front. Scarcely eight o clock,
and seventy men of the Eleventh Regiment lay
bleeding and groaning in the yard of that farm
house. When the battle ceased, five officers out
SCENES IN THE HOSPITAL. 131
of the nine were disabled, and one hundred and
twenty of the men killed and wounded. Of the
eleven hundred of Hartsuff s Brigade that
marched so steadily through that field of corn,
only five hundred returned.
From the field of Waterloo, after the battle
had spent its fury, and in the midst of its reeking
carnage, the Duke of Wellington wrote to a
friend: "I have escaped unhurt; the finger of
Providence was on me." And those brave men,
as they looked over that field of Antietam,
strewed with the harvest of death, through
which they had passed unhurt, with a manli
ness of heart equal to that of the English duke,
confessed that the finger of God was upon them.
The hospital is a place where one may look
on the battle-field shorn of
"The pomp and circumstance of war."
To see those with whom you have been in daily
intercourse, with whom you have exchanged
all the kind amenities of social life, and Christian
fellowship, to see these lacerated by gaping
wounds, bleeding and dying, is a harrowing
sight, from which you would gladly turn away.
Many of the young men of the Eleventh Regi
ment came from praying families, and during
the gracious revivals of religion that preceded
the rebellion, some had made a personal conse
cration of themselves to the service of God.
132 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Not only at Annapolis, but through all the sub
sequent campaigns, however wearisome the
marches or fatiguing the duties, there were a
few who could always find the time and the
place to pay their vows to the Most High.
Every foot of ground over which we marched
and fought has a deep and abiding interest. But
those secluded spots, just outside of camp limits,
where the meeting for evening prayer was held,
will live longest in the memory of all. Faithful
to their Divine Master, they were also faithful
to their country; and at Thoroughfare Gap, and
Bull Run, and Antietam, the first to fall were
from among these young men.
There was one thing belonging to the battle
field not to be seen in our hospital, its foul
spirit of hate. The term/oe was there forgotten.
All were now friends. A soldier from Maine
and another from Georgia the one having lost
an arm, and the other a leg occupied the same
pallet of straw. A South Carolinian, slightly
hurt in the head, was the cook for himself and
two severely wounded Xew Yorkers. A volun
teer from Pennsylvania and a conscript from
Alabama, sheltered under the same tent, w r ere as
fraternal in "their acts of kindness as though they
had fought side by side, and not in opposing
ranks.
With the earliest knowledge of Lee s retreat,
a squad of surgeons and chaplains repaired to the
ANTIETAM AFTER THE BATTLE. 133
battle-field. If any of the wounded that could
not be reached during the first days engagement
had lived through Thursday, the object of our
visit was to give them the speediest relief. But
that field, furrowed by cannon shots and strewed
in every direction with human forms, was a place
of the dead. Cries of water! water! uttered
in tones of beseeching agony, fell upon our ears
in the first hours of the battle. Now every
tongue was still, and every heart had beat its
last pulsation.
Death came to many with musket raised to
the shoulder, in the very act of firing; and in
falling forward, the dead soldier kept fast hold of
his gun. Others, again, lay on the ground, with
arms wide extended, and the last look of anguish
fixed in the rigid features. In a single row, with
scarcely two feet between them, were eighty-one
of the enemy s dead. It was a battle-line mov
ing forward, each man meeting death at the
same instant. Such a volley, telling so fearfully
on the front rank, was a complete check at that
point ; for there were no indications here of ad
vance and retreat, as were seen on other parts of
that ground, in the bodies of friend and foe fall
ing together.
We had only to pass up through Miller s corn
field, and into the woods beyond, to find most of
the slain belonging to the Eleventh. Writing
the name of each man on a slip of paper, with
12
134 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
the number of the regiment and the letter of his
company, and fastening it to coat or shirt, the
graves of our comrades were so plainly marked,
that when friends came to remove sons and
brothers, we could point with certainty to all
that remained of brave and loving hearts.
CHAPTER III.
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC IX REPOSE.
MOVING forward from the battle-field late Fri
day afternoon, Hartsuff s Brigade went into camp
on a bluff overlooking the Potomac. The river
was between us and the enemy; the firing heard
at intervals during the day was away toward
Harper s Ferry, and each soldier, wrapping up
in blanket, promised himself a night of needed
repose. But our slumbers were disturbed near
midnight by a frightened courier, who reported
a large body of Stuart s cavalry north of the
Potomac.
The whole brigade was marched three miles
up the river to guard the fording, and, if possible,
intercept Stuart. The movement was sufficiently
adventurous to arouse the most sluggish, as we
passed over roads darkened by heavy forests, and
every ear was strained to catch the faintest sound
of tramping horsemen.
CAMP IN WALNUT GROVE. 135
The troops were disposed along the roads lead
ing to the river to the best possible advantage,
Colonel Coulter finding himself in the vicinity
of his first explorations of the Potomac, under
General Patterson. The watch was maintained
until Saturday at sundown; but no foe showing
himself to be near, the brigade was relieved and
returned to camp.
Those were glorious autumn days that followed
the battle of Antietam. The camp of our divi
sion was in a walnut grove, on the farm of James
Rowe, with the Potomac in full view. It was
not easy to realize that the narrow, rocky stream
rolling below was the same Potomac, of such
majestic proportions, that we had crossed at
Washington. The course of the river was like
that of an unpromising youth, disappointing all
the ill prophecies drawn from a mean beginning,
and developing at last a sturdy and magnificent
manhood. They were also days of masterly in
activity. Company drill and battalion drill were
observed as usual. But however interesting such
exercises might be to the new recruit, to those
veterans, who had made their evolutions to the
music of charging columns and bursting shells,
c&gt; O O
all ordinary drill was dull monotony.
There was business enough, however, at regi
mental headquarters. The numerous vacancies
in the list of commissioned officers were to be
filled, amounting almost to a reorganization of
STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
the regiment. Major Frink was promoted to the
vacated place of Lieutenant-Colonel Martin.
Captain J. B. Keenan, of Co. K, was made major.
In Co. B Lieutenant Haines took the place of
Captain Shanks, killed at Thoroughfare Gap ;
Second Lieutenant Tapp was made first lieu
tenant, and J. P. Straw second lieutenant. In
Co. D Sergeant J. B. Overmyer was appointed
captain in room of Captain Sees, honorably dis
charged; Jas. T. Chalfant, transferred from the
Ninth Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps,
first lieutenant, in place of Lieutenant Saxton,
killed at Thoroughfare, and Sergeant F. J. Cross
second lieutenant, in place of E. T. Tiers, dis
charged to become captain in another Pennsyl
vania regiment. In Co. E, Second Lieutenant
II. B. Piper took the place of Lieutenant G. R.
Dalby, killed at Bull Run, and Sergeant Samuel
J. Hamill was promoted to second lieutenant.
In Co. F, Second Lieutenant E. H. Gay took the
position of Captain D. M. Cook, honorably dis
charged; and Sergeant Robert Anderson, of Co.
K, was appointed second lieutenant. In Co. H,
Sergeant Daniel C. Tubbs was made second lieu
tenant in place of Lieutenant Hyndman, killed
at Bull Run. In Co. I, Second Lieutenant Jacob
X. Thomas took the place of Captain George A.
Cribbs, who died of wounds received at Bull
Run; and Sergeant A. Lobaugh was promoted
to second lieutenant. Lieutenant Lobaugh died
FORAGING FOR THE MESS. 137
at Hagerstown, of wounds received at Antietam,
before his commission from the Governor of
Pennsylvania reached the regiment. In Co. K,
First Lieutenant Walter J. Jones resigned; Sec
ond Lieutenant John Reed was appointed captain
in place of Captain Keenan promoted, but died
of wounds received at Antietam before his com
mission arrived. Corporal W. A. Kuhns was
appointed second lieutenant; afterward promoted
to first lieutenant, and Corporal Freeman C. Gay
made second lieutenant.
Since the death of Colonel Martin, it had fallen
to the chaplain to keep the mess now increased
to more than the original number by the addition
of adjutant and surgeons in rations. We were
so nearly starved in Virginia, that in a land of
plenty each one s appetite seemed determined on
making amends for past compulsory fasting.
" Sold out," was the reply to inquiries for any
kind of provender, made of farmers living near
the camp. Then we had to enlarge the circle of
our operations, sometimes in one direction and
again in another.
While the cook Strauthers, who always accom
panied us on these foraging expeditions, rode off
a short distance further to secure some articles
for which he had bargained on a former visit, we
remained at Bakersville, in conversation with an
old woman with whom we had agreed for a
supply of shanghais.
12*
138 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
" Them chickens were raised for my own use;
hut I am always ready to divide with a soldier,
even to the last half a loaf of bread."
The old lady had no very flattering opinion of
the Virginians, and was greatly delighted at the
defeat of the rebel army.
; Them Virginians always thought they were
a heap smarter than the Marylanders. But I
told them they had better stay at home ; that
they would find out to their sorrow we had just
as smart people here as they had over there. I
always said this fight would come some day.
But they said I was dumb, and didn t know any
thing. "Well, I don t know much ; but I know
the good Book says the lather shall rise against
the son, and the son against the father ; and
aint that so, now? I knew it would come, but I
was never afraid that the South would whip the
North. It will all be right by-and-by, mind I
tell you. I told my son John, the other day, that
as I had seen the first of this war I should like
to see the end of it; and John said, La, mother,
do you expect to live that long? Do you think
the war will end soon ?"
The arrival of Strauthers, and his violent
demonstrations in the chicken yard, put an end
to the harangue. It was four miles to camp, and
night was coming on. AVe could not even guess
how much longer the war would last; but sin
cerely hoping that all would be right in the end,
we took our leave.
LOUISIANA VS. VIRGINIA. 139
That old woman in Maryland was not the only
one to entertain a mean opinion of her Virginia
neighbors. A Louisiana captain said :
"There is nothing in Virginia to make any
one fall in love with it. Her men are mean and
her women ugly. I would trade off Virginia to
day for Maryland. I think there is more of the
cunning Yankee and his cowardly disposition
among the people of that State, notwithstanding
their high pretensions to chivalry, than can be
found among any other class of men in the Con
federate service.
"There is General R. A. Pry or, whose politi
cal and dueling reputation got him a military
position for which he is totally unqualified. He
is not only a coward, but a knave. At one of
the recent battles he lost his command, and of
fered some of the Louisiana boys a fifty-days
furlough if they would point it out to him. I
have heard aids to our generals say that they
would rather be dispatched with orders for any
other officer on the ground in time of battle than
Pryor, as he is always the most difficult person
to find, and when found is usually posted as se
cretly as possible in some safe place."
SUNDAY, Sept. 20. Another delightful day.
The clouds that obscured the early rising of the
sun, gradually floated away, and toward ten
o clock the morning was as bright as though no
threatening rain clouds had marred its early
140 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
beauty. Six o clock in the evening we held our
public religious services in connection with the
dress parade. The sun had gone down behind
the Virginia hills, as the regiment marched out
upon the open green to the rear of headquarters.
Almost every man in camp was present, each one
manifesting by a becoming and quiet demeanor
his interest in the duties of the hour. These words
of Paul, addressed to the Ephesians, "My breth
ren, put on the whole armor," were read as a text.
It was remarked that they must all have ob
served the familiar as well as kindly manner in
which the Scriptures address us. The Bible is a
gift from God ; but it came intermediately through
men, men like ourselves, and therefore in its
spirit it is like the address of one man to an
other. The Apostle calls us brethren, and as a
brother he delivers his instructions. There is
another thing that endears Paul to us. It is said
that he was a soldier, and from the frequency
with which he uses illustrations and phrases
drawn from the soldier s life, this may be true.
He talks about lighting a good fight; warring a
good warfare; and of putting on the whole ar
mor as though he knew all about it.
We are to understand Paul as teaching that
everything that goes to make up the complete
soldier is to be secured; no part of the armor
must be neglected. The brave, valiant, and suc
cessful soldier is always fully equipped. You
A SERMON IN CAMP. 141
would not regard that comrade who should go
into the battle with his cartridge box only, as
fully armed ; neither that one who, leaving his
cartridge box behind, should take only his mus
ket. In order to put on the whole armor he
must have both gun and cartridge box, bayonet
and scabbard.
A good cause, personal bravery, a spirit that
will lead to death rather than turn the back to
the foe, are essential parts of every soldier s
armor. So far as these are concerned, you are
fully armed. Your cause is the cause of human
ity. It concerns all peoples. Are there anxious
hearts here in our own nation awaiting the result
of this contest? There are hearts as anxious
in every nation under the sun. We have taught
other nations that man is free; that God has
made him capable of self-government. We have
taught them new ideas; awakened in them new
hopes. Through our teachings they have been
aroused to action. If we succeed, a bright
future opens to them. If we fail, a darker
night, because of the already dawning day,
closes around them. Our cause is good; it is
our country s cause, the country that God gave
to us, and that bears the seal of our fathers
blood. As to your personal bravery, let the
battle-fields of Cedar Mountain, Rappahaunock
Station, Thoroughfare Gap, Bull Run, Chan-
tilly, South Mountain, Antietam, speak. That
142 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
you are ready to die rather than forsake the
cause in which you have engaged, or dim the
glory of your flag, let our thinned ranks tell, let
our three hundred killed and wounded declare.
This part of your armor is complete. But,
according to Paul, my comrades, this is not the
whole armor; and Paul knew whereof he affirmed.
He was a soldier, and a courageous soldier, ^o
craven fear entered his manly heart. He is,
therefore, a proper person to teach, and his
teachings ought to be regarded. We must ever
remember that the circumscribed present is not
the only field of action upon which the soldier
who hears me to-day will be marshaled. The
impudent foe, that threatens with insulting boast
ing, to demolish our fair fabric of State, is not
the only one he is called upon to meet. We
must remember that sacred as is our allegiance
to country, laudable as is the ambition to deserve
well at her hands, our allegiance to heaven is
more sacred, and to be approved of God is an
ambition higher than to be approved of man.
Each one of us will soon overstep the boundaries
of time, and enter upon the boundless eternity.
Spiritual foes whose name is legion invest us
on every side. The eye of the Almighty, looking
through every covering, now beholds us.
It is for this higher service, for this more im-
O
portant field of action, and these more subtle
enemies, that our brother Paul would prepare us.
A SERMON IN CAMP. 143
And we may see in this kindly advice something
of that regard which every soldier feels for his
fellow-soldier. War may accustom one to scenes
of carnage and bloodshed ; but war also devel
ops the most generous sentiments of our na
ture. Let a companion fall on the battle-field,
and a score of hands are ready to raise him up.
Let an enemy, wounded and bleeding, cast him
self down before you, and he is treated like a
brother. Paul knew the soldier s generosity,
and with a generosity nearly akin to it, urges his
brother soldiers to put on the whole armor, that
having deserved well of his country, he might
deserve and secure the more enduring honor of
heaven.
How to secure this additional armor is an old
story, my fellow-soldiers. The road to heaven s
arsenal has ever been the way of the CROSS. Re
pentance toward God; an acceptance of Christ
as our Saviour; a life of prayer, of trust, of obe
dience, of faith, puts us in possession of the whole
annor, and equips the soldier entire. I must
warn you against embracing that wide-spread
fallacy, that the life of the Christian and the life
of the soldier are so far apart as to make it ut
terly impossible for them to meet in the same
person, and that the best soldier is the man who
is least religious, or who has thrown off, to the
greatest degree, all moral restraint.
Let me ask you what constitutes a good sol-
144 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
dier? Certainly not brute force merely, nor an
ignorant recklessness of life. Show me the man
to whose courage and bravery is added a sense
of his responsibility to God, one who believes
that his motives and actions here are to give
shape and coloring to his life in the other
world, and I will show yon the best soldier.
If the path of duty leads him to the very mouth
of the cannon, or upon the sharp points of the
enemy s charging bayonets, will a preparation
to die, and a sense of his acceptance with God,
in the least degree interfere with the discharge
of his duty? Rather has not such a one put on
the whole armor; and who, more than he, is fit
for such deeds of noble daring ? A profession
of religion hightens every joy of life. It does
not blunt, but quickens every sensibility; and
yet with every joy hightened, and every sensibil
ity quickened, the Christian is brave to dare and
bold to do whatever God or his country de
mands.
Let me ask you another question. If we ne
glect to put on the whole armor from those more
subtle foes to which I have alluded, who shall
defend us ? Vice is always degrading. Every
sin we commit detracts from our true manhood,
and makes us mean and despicable in the eyes
of the Almighty, in the eyes of good men, and
in our own eyes. I am sorry that in this camp,
and among our own brave men, so manv vices
A SERMON IN CAMP. 145
prevail. Some of you are profane; some are in
temperate; some are gamblers. How sad to see
men who have noblv contended for so ffood a
"
cause as ours, men who but yesterday were vic
tors on this hard-fought field, to-day captives in
the hands of these gross vices. Rouse ye, solr
diers ! In the name of Jesus, rouse ye ! Put on
the whole armor, and then you shall be able to
meet every foe ; those of your country, and
those greater enemies of your souls as well.
There are loved ones at home who daily pray
God to watch over and protect you. You can
not imagine with what intense interest every
thing from the battle-field is read by them.
AVhat heartfelt thanks went up to heaven that
you had escaped where so many fell. But think
you, comrades, they have no other concern than
for your personal safety ? Dearly as that wife or
mother loves you, fondly as that sister thinks of
you, she would rather you had died on the san
guinary field of Antietam, by the side of your
brave companion, than to return to her arms a
thing loathsome and degraded by vicious habits.
Every interest conspires, brother soldiers, to make
it our duty to put on the whole armor. Our duty
to God, our duty to our country, our duty to self,
our duty to friends, all require it. May you be
thus equipped; and in every contest, whether with
the enemies of our country or with the enemy
that leads us into evil, be always conquerors.
13
146 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER IV.
TENT LIFE IN MARYLAND.
OCTOBER 1. The new month made its begin
ning with a genial shower of rain, which lasted
long enough to lay the dust, and give to the trees
a greener and fresher look. It is now night.
The moon rides through a cloudless sky; while
the hum of the myriads of insects that swarm
this sylvan retreat, and the ceaseless murmur of
the river, on its way to the sea, mingle their
somnific music. In the tent, as joint occupants,
are the two surgeons. They have already spread
their blankets on the ground, and though present
in body are absent in spirit in the land of visions.
The junior doctor is by himself. The senior
and the chaplain are more social, and sleep on
the same blankets. The junior has been spend
ing some time at the Sharpsburg hospital, among
the rebel wounded, and we have voted him out
in a corner until he shall have completed his
purification.
We could wish all things that crawl but to
contaminate and annoy, might be kept in seces-
sia where they belong by right of possession.
NIGHT EXPERIENCES. 147
But even in this loyal State of Maryland, there
are all sorts of creeping worms and flying bugs.
They make of one s body, during the night sea
son, a common highway. Just at that delicious
moment of human existence, when the substantial
world is fading into that out of which dreams
come, did you ever have one of those long-legged
spiders take the dimensions of your face ? Or a
black beetle persist in getting into your ear,
while half a dozen over-large ants, mistaking
your nose for an ant-hill, make a violent effort
to stop up the channel through which you draw
your ration of oxygen? Then you never made
your bed on the ground, overlooking the Poto
mac, in the State of Maryland.
OCTOBER 6. One o clock this morning, General
O
Porter, on the extreme left, sent word that the
enemy was planting cannon on the hills opposite
Blcketts s Division ; and that forces were moving
up the Potomac. The headquarter tents of the
regiment, pitched near the outer edge of the
grove, and that might serve as an admirable tar
get from the other side of the river, were removed
to a less conspicuous place.
OCTOBER 7. All quiet along the Potomac. Xo
enemy has shown himself on the opposite shore.
The extensive laundry operations afforded by the
river, somewhat curtailed through the rumors of
O
yesterday, are again as active as ever. General
kelson Taylor, who has been assigned to the
148 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
command of the brigade, arrived this afternoon.
We have lost the title of Hartsutf s Brigade, of
which we had reason to be proud. May we make
a reputation as honorable under our new name
of Taylor s Brigade.
During the last ten days our camp has been
full of visitors. Some are here to see the battle
field; others come on the sadder errand of re
moving their dead to the quiet resting-place of
the church-yard at home, or the family burying
ground.
OCTOBER 11. All not quiet on the Potomac.
From Harper s Ferry to Cumberland there is
confusion and alarm. If anything conceived by
Lee could astonish one, the occupation of Cham-
bersburg by the rebel cavalry would certainly do
it. While we have been massing our army at
Harper s Ferry, and sending reconnoitering par
ties as far south as Warrenton, the enemy steals
northward around our pickets and invades Penn
sylvania. When will we be able to cope with
this wily, and, one might almost say, ubiquitous
foe?
SUNDAY, October 12. Last night the regiment
was ordered out on picket, near where we did
duty September 19th. It was merely precaution
ary, lest Stuart and his cavalry might feel dis
posed to recross into Virginia via Piper s Ford.
Returned to camp late this afternoon, where or
ders were in waiting to cook two days rations,
preparatory to march.
STUART S CAVALRY RAID. 149
OCTOBER 14. To cross the Potomac from Vir
ginia into Maryland, at an unguarded ford, with
one or two thousand cavalry, may riot have been
a great thing in a military point of view. But
with that number of men, to make a detour from
right to left of our army, through a densely pop
ulated country, compelling the surrender of a
town of five thousand inhabitants, capturing
hundreds of horses, and thousands of dollars
worth of property, and with all this booty, and
without the loss of a man, to recross into Virginia,
is something of a feat. If the enemy should be
falling back on Richmond, as is reported, this
raid will enable him to do so with better grace ;
while to a large degree it neutralizes the good
effects of recent victories.
OCTOBER 16. The move for which preparations
have been making for several days past, is likely
to be retarded for some time longer. The rain
is falling heavily on our tent-roof, threatening to
sink the fordings of the Potomac too deep for
crossing. But if the night is dark and cheerless
without, we have anything but a cheerless party
within. Two of the doctors are engrossed in a
game of checkers, while two or three officers are
discussing the battle of Antietam. Dr. Morris,
the latest addition to the medical department,
who weighs full two hundred pounds, in the vain
attempt to adjust himself to an army bed, is
loudly bemoaning the loss of home-sleeping com-
13*
150 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
forts, only appreciated in their absence. Pushing
aside the checker-board, Doctor Phelps inquired:
" Chaplain, did I ever tell you of that singular
dream 1 had if dream it was after you left us
in the hospital at Manassas?"
Not one of the company had heard it, and the
doctor was urged to proceed.
" You remember that for more than a week I
was on the sick list. The fight at Thoroughfare
Gap, and the fatiguing march of next day to
Manassas Junction made me so much the worse.
Then came the tearing up of that old woman s
house for a hospital. Scarcely through with that,
the rebel cavalry made a dash on Manassas,
capturing ambulances, drivers, doctors, and all.
The horses and ambulances were appropriated to
their own use; the drivers and nurses taken
prisoners; the wounded paroled, and the doctors
marched off to Colonel Rosser s headquarters.
The colonel generously dismissed the surgeons,
and sent them back to take care of the sick. I
returned to the hospital completely prostrated ;
and for once you might have seen the strange sight
of a doctor taking his own physic. The medicine
quieted my nerves and produced a feeling of drow
siness. Lying on the bed, and conscious of every
thing around me, the two armies were seen con
fronting each other in line of battle. At the
head of the rebel troops was a figure of giant
size, that seemed to walk through our ranks with
DREAMS AND VISIONS. 151
the utmost impunity, the whole Southern army
following close behind. The Eleventh Regiment
lay directly in his track, and the men were fall
ing to the right and left like mown wheat. The
exclamations of horror uttered at such a sight
attracted the attention of some one in the room,
who came to the bedside to inquire w^hat was
the matter. What is the matter! Why, the
rebels are whipping us. Pope s army is giving
way at all points, in rout and defeat. You all
know that the result of the Bull Run battle was
nearly to the letter as seen in my dream."
A long discussion followed on the philosophy
of dreams and visions. It was certainly very
ungenerous in one of the company to speak in
that particular connection of Goethe s story of
Dr. Faust, leaving us not only to infer that the
huge figure at the head of the rebel army was
the same well-known Mephistopheles, who
formed such a close alliance with that ancient
physician, but that the propensity to form simi
lar alliances still belonged to the profession !
Perhaps it \vas the pelting storm without, that in
angry blasts drove the rain against our tent, and
went howling dismally through the trees, a real
night for the witches of Brocken to be astir,
that suo^ested the thought.
CHAPTER I.
M CLELLAX SUPERSEDED BY BURXSIDE.
FOUR days from the close of October, Ricketts s
Division bade good-by to Walnut Grove, and
marched to Berlin. The delightful autumn
weather was at an end, and with the beginning
of winter, General McClellan commenced a new
campaign against Richmond.
Never was there a more cheerless march ; and
though continued from three o clock in the after
noon until midnight, so dark was the night, and
so incessant the rain, and so slow the progress,
that when we halted, the brigade had only made
six miles, not half the intended distance. Ber
lin, the destination of the tirst day s march, was
not reached until the 28th. It was an inauspi
cious beginning, and proved prophetic of the
whole movement. Two days later, the army
crossed the Potomac into Virginia. Passing
through Lovettsville, Bloomfield, and Salern,
Ricketts s Division bivouacked at Warrenton on
the 6th of November.
(152)
FEELING AMONG THE TROOPS. 153
The ground was covered with snow, and a
frosty chilliness dwelt in the air. But it was not
the winter storm, with its moaning winds, and
sleet -and snow, that so depressed the spirits of
the troops. It was the order, read to the several
corps, dismissing General McClellan from the
chief command of the Army of the Potomac that
filled all hearts with sorrow.
Long after the patience of the country was ex
hausted by his hesitancy and want of decision,
the army still confided in their favorite general.
The rank and file beheld McClellan only in
the favorable light in which he first appeared
among them, as the organizer of the volunteer
masses of the nation into splendid corps and
divisions of well-trained soldiers. And when
the ranks of that army were broken, and almost
ruined by defeat and disaster, they remembered
him as gathering up the fragments, reorganizing
them, and marching through the victories of
South Mountain and Antietam.
It would be to insult the common sense of our
citizen soldiers, to say they did not see that some
one was to blame for delays and defeats. Why
the Peninsular campaign was such a fearful fail
ure; why the battle of Antietam was not renewed
on Thursday; why days and weeks, so favorable
for military operations, were not afterward im
proved, were questions fully discussed. But with
wonderful unanimity, all agreed in placing the
154 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
blame anywhere else than on the chief com
mander. The authorities at Washington were
charged with interfering with his plans and pur
poses; with withholding reinforcements and sup
plies; and when delays ensued, or defeat came,
the whole blame was thrown upon the shoulders
of others.
In a record of the lights and shadows of army
life, the removal of McClellan must be set down
as one of the shadows. The appointment of his
successor was a wise though unintentional stroke
of policy. Next to McClellan, General Burnside
had the confidence and affection of the troops ;
and for the peace of the army there was more
than happy chance in that selection.
The Confederate army was concentrated at
Culpeper, with a strong rear-guard in the Shen-
andoah Valley. Abandoning the plans of his
predecessor, who intended to march to Gordons-
ville, General Burnside proposed, by a sudden
move, to throw his whole army on Falmouth,
then cross the Rappahannock, take possession of
the hights of Fredericksburg, and compel Lee
either to attack him in that strong position, or
fall back toward Richmond.
The plans of the new commander were inau
gurated on the morning of November 8th by
detaching Taylor s Brigade from the rest of the
division, and sending it as a support to Bayard s
cavalry, doing picket duty on the Rappahanuock
BURNSIDE S CAMPAIGN BEGUN. 155
from Beverly ford to Kelly s mills. Regimental
headquarters were established near Rappahan-
nock Station. Across the narrow stream was
HartauiFs knoll.
If the boys of the Eleventh had an earnest
desire to cross over and drive away the rebel
pickets by which the knoll was guarded, a de
sire they executed in gallant style one clear,
frosty morning, capturing the entire camp equip
ments and the half-cooked breakfast of the ab
sconding enemy, it was because the scene of
one of their early contests stirred anew the
courage that held it, on the 21st of August,
against such unequal numbers.
While the Eleventh was thus employed, taking
care of the bridge and river fordings, the main
army was moving on to Falmouth. Pieasantorrs
cavalry relieved the infantry on the evening of
the 18th, and setting fire to the railroad bridge,
rebuilt by the rebels since its destruction in Au
gust, we rejoined the division at Stafford Court
House.
Before the army left Warrenton, General Hal-
leek and General Meigs were in consultation
with Burn side. The Orange and Alexandria
Railroad was to be given up, and the troops
supplied by way of the Potomac; the Aquia
Creek landing was to be repaired, and pontoon
bridges, on which to cross the river at Freder-
icksburg, at once sent forward. These were
156 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
essential parts of Burnside s plans; and to facili
tate these movements, a picked force of cavalry
under the gallant Captain Dahlgren, cleared the
railroad from Aquia Creek to the Rappahannock
of all the enemy s pickets.
But when the army reached Falmouth neither
was the wharf at Aquia repaired, nor were the
pontoons where Burnside expected to find them.
The Rappahannock was too high to be forded,
and for want of the bridges, the occupation of
Fredericksburg was defeated. One day later,
the enemy left at Culpeper was seen covering
the opposite hights, and confronting us with
bayonet and cannon on the south bank of the
river.
Burnside s force was composed of three Grand
Divisions, commanded respectively by Sumner
on the right, Hooker in the center, and Franklin
on the left. It was the 9th of December before
the several Grand Divisions moved forward into
position along the Rappahannock. The purpose
of the Federal commander to attempt a crossing
of the river was surmised by the enemy, and
those Fredericksburg hights, formidable enough
in themselves, were terraced from bottom to top
with rifle pits, and crowned with bastions. A
feint was made, as though the crossing would be
effected at Port Conway, twenty miles below,
and a large force of the rebels had marched in
that direction. The object of Burnside was now
ARMY ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 157
to cross immediately in front, and throw his
whole united army against the divided army of
the enemy.
General Ricketts had retired from the com
mand of the division, and was succeeded by
General Gibbons. Gibbons s Division was at
tached to Reynolds s Corps of Franklin s Grand
Division, the other divisions of corps being those
of General Meade and General Doubleday. In
the order of the battle, Franklin s Grand Divi
sion was to cross four miles below the city, and
that of Surnner directly opposite Fredericksburg,
while the center division of General Hooker re
mained in reserve.
Five o clock on the morning of December llth,
leaving our camp near White Oak Chapel, the
Eleventh Regiment marched toward the river.
The moon was high in the heavens, casting a
calm, clear light on all beneath, while the air of
the early morning was just cool enough to make
the brisk walk at which the men started off im
part a gentle warmth to the blood.
Passing through the several regiments formed
in line, and waiting to fall in behind us, a group
of officers were gathered around their colonel,
who was addressing his men :
"Keep your .eye on the flag. If the shot and
shell of the enemy break your ranks, let that be
the rallying point. Don t crowd together. Give
room for the balls to pass between you ; but
14
158 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
always rally on the flag. There will be hard
fighting to-day, and every man must do his duty.
Do your duty, and a grateful country will never
forget you."
The hour, the foreshadowings of the day,
the full tones of the orator, were all impressive ;
and the good, round cheers that followed told
that the speaker had an appreciative audience.
At daylight the troops rested on the hills above
the river. The bridges on which the Left Grand
Division was to cross were laid at the mouth of
Pollock s Creek, and with little opposition. But
Franklin was not to pass over until Simmer s
bridges were completed. The opposition to Sum-
ner was fierce and decided. Sharp-shooters, con
cealed in the houses along the river, picked off
the bridge-builders with deadly certainty. Sev
eral of our batteries fired occasional shots into
the city, but with what effect could not be told
for the dense fog that enveloped it. We knew
that the sharp-shooters had not been driven from
their hiding-places, for every attempt to complete
the pontoons drew forth a vigorous and fatal fire.
The plain on which Fredericksburg stands is
completely commanded by the hills of Stafford.
Toward noon, the fog having rolled away, and
the bridges still remaining unfinished, the order
was given 10 concentrate the fire of all our bat
teries on the citv. Riding a short distance through
\j O O
the woods from where the regiment rested, we
BOMBARDMENT OF FREDERICKSBURG. 159
were at a point affording a full view of Fred-
ericksburg, and the position of many of our guns.
Already the town was on fire in several places,
and the flames of the burning buildings mingled
with the white smoke of the bursting shells.
One could not look upon an exhibition of war
so sublime in its terrors without conflicting emo
tions. "When all the time-honored associations
belonging to Fredericksburg were remembered,
that a large part of the youth of WASHINGTON was
spent there, that for years it was the home of his
mother, and her hist earthly resting-place, we
could wish such a fate had not overtaken the old
town. But when we reflected that sacred mem
ories and associations were no longer regarded by
those who lived among them, and that the glo
rious past was forgotten in the bitterness of the
present, there was a subdued feeling of satisfac
tion as the angry flames, approaching from differ
ent directions, threatened to leave the doomed
city a mass of ruins.
One of our batteries on the left had thrown
several shot at a large house standing near the
river, and from which could be seen issuing the
smoke of the rebel picket, as in his concealment
he fired upon our unprotected men. The chim
neys were knocked away, and a solid shot had
broken through the roof. But every few minutes
a wreath of white smoke, curling up from door
or windows, indicated the presence of the persist-
100 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
ent Southerner. The four guns of the battery
were depressed to range with the windows in
the lower story of the building. When the
smoke of that last discharge cleared away, the
front wall had fallen out, and carrying down the
roof with it, crushed to death every living thing
within.
In the midst of this furious bombardment, at
tempts were made to complete the bridges. But
each effort was ineffectual. Despite all the artil
lery firing, the enemy lay concealed on the oppo
site shore. Impatient at the delay, and aroused
to deeds of daring by the daring of the enemy,
the Seventh Michigan, under command of Lieu
tenant-Colonel Baxter, volunteered to cross in
boats, and drive away the sharp-shooters. It was
an act nobly done. Rushing down the river
bank, and filling the pontoons, the brave fellows
pushed out into the river. More rapid than ever
came the whistling bullets from the south shore ;
more vigorous than ever they pulled at the oars.
As the boats touched the beach the men leaped
forward with a shout, and forth from their hiding-
places started the lurking foe. But swift of foot
though they were, swifter were the musket balls
of those sons of Michigan that struck a score and
more of them to the earth, dead or dying.
Ten thousand spectators beheld the valiant
feat ; and as boat after boat landed its crew, wild
huzzahs filled the air. Half an hour later Sum-
ACROSS THE RAPPAHANNOCK. 161
ner s bridges were completed; and from right to
left the army was preparing to cross the Rappa-
hannock.
CHAPTER II.
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.
A FEW troops on the left crossed the river
Thursday evening, hut not until the morning of
the 12th did the entire force move to the south
side. A dense fog covered hill and plain. The
same ominous silence observed by the rebels
during the bombardment of Fredericksburg was
maintained. Their pickets slowly retired before
our advance, and Franklin s Division crossed the
bridges without drawing from the enemy more
than a single shot.
There was no longer any break in the rebel
line. The troops that marched to Port Conway,
in anticipation that the Federal army would there
cross, at the discharge of the first gun on Thurs
day morning, hastened back; and now from Ma-
rye s Rights, at Fredericksburg, to Massaponax
Creek below, the Corps of Longstreet and Jack
son were in well-chosen positions.
Running through the plain on which Frank
lin s troops formed their ranks, and in a line par-
14*
162 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
allel with the river, is the Fredericksburg and
Richmond Railroad. The railroad crossing of the
Massaponax was the extreme right of the rebel
line, held by Stuart s cavalry and a battery of
three or four guns. 2s"ext came the Divisions of
A. P. Hill and General Early, with D. H. Hill s
Division in reserve, forming Jackson s Corps.
These troops occupied the low hills in our imme
diate front, and were joined on the left by Hood s
Division of Longstreet s Corps.
Reynolds s Corps, occupying the extreme left
of the Union line, was formed with Meade s
Division on the left, Gibbons s on the right, and
Doubleday in reserve. Gibbons s Division was
in three lines of battle Taylor s Brigade in the
first line, Colonel Lyle in the second, and Colonel
Root in the third line.
Thursday was spent in laying the bridges, and
Friday in crossing the troops and placing them
in position. If that marching and countermarch
ing of brigades and divisions had been prepara
tions for a grand review, the enemy could not
have observed it with less apparent concern.
When the day closed, the pickets of Taylor s
Brigade were across the Bowling Green road.
Excepting here and there a solitary sentinel,
scarcely a Southern soldier was to be seen ; but
throughout the night could be heard the hum
of voices, and the falling of trees, and the dull
rumbling of moving artillery. A few indulged
NIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE. 163
the hope that the enemy would quietly slip away,
leaving us in possession of the coveted bights,
while others, again, argued little good of his
sullen reticence.
They were veteran troops that composed the
Left Grand Division, and in view of the coming
morrow, each man, hugging close his musket,
was soon seeking rest for the present and endu
rance for the future in such sleep as only comes
to the tired soldier.
The Eleventh had not greatly filled up its ranks
since the battle of Antietam. A few of the
wounded had returned to duty ; but altogether
we only numbered on hundred and eighty officers
and men. Colonel Frink and Major Keenan were
in hospital. Adjutant Uncapher had lately re
signed. Doctor Jackson was absent on detached
service. Doctor An await had been promoted to
surgeon, and was transferred to the 132d Regi
ment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Doctors Phelps
and Morris were at the hospital on the opposite
side of the river; leaving the chaplain the sole
representative of the colonel s staff present that
night before the battle.
Saturday morning, December 13th, was like
the several mornings that had preceded it. A
thick haze enveloped the entire plain, and hung
before the army like an impenetrable veil. Even
our own pickets, though only a few yards in ad
vance of the battle-line, were hid from view by
164 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
the fog. Toward ten o clock, the rays of the sun
beginning to part the heavy curtains, the lines
of Reynolds s Corps, from right to left, were or
dered to move forward. Scarcely quarter of an
hour later, there was an irregular and scattering
exchange of picket shots. Then came a volley
of musketry, sharp and compact, and the battle
had begun in fearful earnest.
Those quiet hills, no longer concealed by the
fog, were seen to be filled with cannon, enfilading
every foot of the plain ; while from behind the
railroad embankment, and from the woods be
yond, the double lines of rebel infantry dis
charged their rifles in the face of our advancing
columns. The enemy had now revealed himself,
and firing over the heads of our own men, who
were ordered to lay close to the ground, a hun
dred cannon from Stafford hights were turned
upon those woods and hills.
An hour of such work as made the very earth
to shake, and filled the air with fiendish sounds,
was followed by a moment of quiet. It was the
signal for a renewal of the advance. The plain
was again a sheet of flame, as if ten thousand
muskets had been discharged by a single touch.
Again those reticent woods were sending forth
sounds of death. But the Third Brigade moved
steadily forward, followed by the Second and the
First, within a few yards of the railroad.
The Eleventh was on the extreme left of the
OPERATIONS OX THE LEFT. 165
first line, and moving obliquely toward the rail
road, encountered the concentrated fire of the
enemy. Three times had the flag been shot down,
carrying with it at each prostration the brave
heart that bore it aloft. But only for a moment
was it suffered to trail in the dust. Others were
there to venture limb and life in maintaining it
erect in si;htof the foe. Before the railroad was
O
reached eight of the regiment killed and seventy-
three wounded, including the colonel and five
O
other officers, marked the ground over which we
had passed.
Through the ranks of the Third Brigade came
Colonel Lyle, at the head of the Second Brigade,
charging against the weakened line of the enemy
across the railroad, and into the woods in front;
while the First Brigade, further to the right,
making a similar move, penetrated the enemy s
line, capturing two hundred prisoners. The
Pennsylvania Reserves, on the left of Gibbous s
Division, were equally successful in breaking
through the lines of A. P. Hill, and throwing
them back on those of Early. Reinforcements
were needed to hold the advantage we had gained,
and to press the yielding rebels still more furi
ously. But reinforcements did not come. The
enemy was quick to see the delay; and massing
his forces at the threatened point, compelled us
to abandon the ground so dearly bought, and
that we ought to have held secure.
166 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
It was late in the afternoon; and falling back
across the Bowling Green road, the Eleventh
took a position near the bivouac of the previous
evening. Darkness ended the strife, and hill and
plain, so recently thundering with artillery, and
rattling with the sound of exploding muskets,
were wrapt in the silence of night.
On the north side of the river, occupying Pol
lock s mansion, was the hospital of Gibbons s
Division. The large tents that were pitched on
the lawn in rear of the house, and reserved for
serious cases, were soon crowded. But a kind
Providence cared for all. Thick matted grass
covered the ground, and the mildness of summer
was breathed into the air of December.
At no previous battle had there been such per
fect system introduced into the hospital. A part
of the surgeons were detailed for the operating
rooms, while to the others were given the care of
the wounded in the tents and out on the lawn.
All kinds of supplies of medicines and rations
were in desired abundance; and if the percentage
of deaths among the wounded of the division
was smaller than it had ever been, the reason
was to be found in the character of the treatment
they received.
To the chaplain of the Eleventh was assigned
the duty of keeping a general record of the
deaths, and burying the dead. A spot of ground
near the house was made sacred as the cemetery
BURYING THE DEAD. 167
of our companions ; and with all the care and
skill displayed by the surgeons, the performance
of our solemn duty was painfully frequent.
"Dig deep, boys," said the corporal in charge
of the grave diggers. " The old man that owns
this ground won t have much respect for these
graves after we leave. He may level them down,
but we ll show him that he caa t reach the
bodies."
If daylight of Sunday morning seemed to
come too soon, it was because each one antici
pated a renewal of the desperate work of Satur
day. During the night, Gibbons s Division
moved a mile further to the left, forming in the
rear of General Doubleday. The same hazy
cloud of yesterday hung over the plain, limiting
the view to a few yards on either side. As the
morning advanced, the boundaries of vision en
larged, until hill and plain were again in full
sight. Xo change was to be seen, except here
and there a tree, denuded of its top branches, or
shivered in trunk and limb as if struck by a
thunder-bolt, caught -the eye. The enemy had
relapsed into his former silence; and though
once or twice during the day the lines were
formed for an advance, none was made.
Rumors began to reach us of a disastrous re
pulse on the right. Simmer s Corps, that was
only to hold the enemy in check, while Franklin,
supported by Hooker, endeavored to turn his
168 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
right, had attempted to carry Marye s Rights,
and utterly failed.
The quiet of Sunday was continued through
out Monday. The Eleventh, under command of
Captain Kuhn, was detailed for picket duty on
the extreme left of the line. Three o clock
Tuesday morning the order was given to retire
toward the pontoon bridges ; and by daylight of
the 16th all the troops had crossed to the north
bank of the river.
CHAPTER III.
AFTER THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.
" HOSPITAL OF SECOND DIVISION,
"Pollock s House, Dec. 18, 1862.
" CHAPLAIN WILLIAM H. LOCKE, of the Eleventh
Pennsylvania Regiment, is hereby detailed to
proceed to Washington with the wounded of
Gibbons s Division, Reynolds s Corps, Frank
lin s Left Grand Division.
"CHAS. J. XORDQUIST, urg eon-in- Chief ."
Winding round the base of Stafford hights,
the long line of ambulances at last drew up at
the railroad station. A train of cars was in wait
ing to convey us to Aquia Creek landing. From
WOUNDED IN WASHINGTON. 169
thence to Washington the transportation was by
boat; and as our corning was expected, the cabin
floors of the steamer had been covered with beds
for the reception of the wounded. In many
cases the bed was only a truss of hay ; but it was
a softer couch than usually invited the wounded
soldier to repose. The transfer of six hundred
men from the cars to the boat occupied us until
after midnight, and delayed our arrival in Wash
ington until the next day. Surgeon-General
Hammond, and a corps of assistants, were at the
wharf, to whom we turned over our responsible
charge.
The War Department had refused passes to
civilians to visit the front since the battle; and
the arrival of the steamer was awaited by many
anxious friends. How each stretcher that passed
over the gangway, bearing a bruised and muti
lated form, was closely scanned! Again and
again the earnest glance turned away in dis
appointment. But the looking was not all in
vain. In one case the recognition between a
gray-haired father and the son who had left his
arm in front of Fredericksburg, was so full of
affection as to impart a joy to every beholder.
Washington was in a state of intense excite
ment. Every one demanded to know who was
responsible for the move across the Rappahan-
nock; and, as usual, every one placed the blame
15
170 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
on the Commander-in-Chief or the Secretary of
War. Said a prominent official:
"The nation is tired of the rule of these igno
rant pretenders; men who have never seen a
battle, and yet undertake to lead an army sixty
miles distant, by the click of the telegraph."
Returning to camp a day later, the same spirit
of discontent manifested itself. Ten thousand
men had been killed and wounded, and yet no
thing was accomplished, not even a cannon or a
battle-flag taken from the enemy.
With characteristic magnanimity, General
Burn side assumed the entire responsibility of
the attack on Fredericksburg. But every drum
mer-boy connected with the army knew of the
disappointments to which the general had been
subjected, and of the criminal neglect of those
to whom important parts of the undertaking
had been intrusted. It was also painfully ap
parent that there was great want of hearty
co-operation on the part of leading generals,
amounting to positive disobedience of plain and
explicit orders.
Franklin was to attack on the left, as that was
the salient point, with his largest corps, and then
to follow up with prompt and heavy supports.
Sumner was to threaten Longstreet on the right,
and thus prevent him from reinforcing Jackson.
If the orders had been reversed, they would have
been carried out to the letter. It was Sumner
CAMP NEAR FLETCHER CHAPEL. 171
that made the vigorous assault, throwing his
whole Grand Division against those unyielding
hights, and filling the streets of Fredericksburg
with his dead; while Franklin, attacking with
his smallest corps, left it to accomplish its won
ders of valor without reinforcements, and without
proper supports.
Moving back from the river, the line of de
fense occupied by the Federal army extended
from Hartwood church on the right, to King
George County on the left. On the Northern
Xeck, midway between Potomac Creek and the
Rappahannock, lay Reynolds s Corps. The camp
of the Eleventh was near Fletcher chapel, an
unpretending frame building, thirty feet long
and forty wide. The disproportion in its width
was owing to an addition to one side of the main
edifice, an afterthought, w r e were told, for the ac
commodation of the colored people, as the church
was without the gallery usually appropriated to
their use.
The contour of this section of the Northern
Xeck is peculiar, a succession of sharply de
fined ridges and deep ravines. Getting to the
leeward of one of these ridges, the quarters of
the men were constructed along the sloping side,
while the top of the ridge was crowned with the
several tents that made up headquarters. There
was no formal announcement that the army would
go into winter quarters, but taking it for granted
172 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
that active movements were at an end, the men
made themselves comfortable to the extent of
their ability. Excavating some eight or ten feet
in length and breadth by three feet deep, the dirt
was thrown up at the sides, on which a frame
work of logs was placed. Using the shelter tents
for a roof, an apartment was thus constructed
large enough for five or six persons to live in.
A fire-place, made through one of the sides, with
an old barrel for a chimney, completed the heat
ing apparatus, in perfect keeping with the prim
itive style of the domicile.
DECEMBER 31. In two hours the year 1862
will be dead. Personally, we must speak well of
the dying. His daily visits have been full of
blessings. In camp, on the march, and on the
field, a kindly hand has been over us. Nation
ally, the old year has been one of disappoint
ment. The rebellion, dark and terrible, that
1861 brought upon the country, we were led to
hope 1862 would surely end. But it still rages.
The hungry spirit of war, though devouring
tens of thousands, cries for more. After twenty
months of varied fortunes, the enemy is proud
and defiant as ever.
JANUARY 1, 1863. The winds that went moan
ing wildly through the live-Long night the re
quiem of the dying year, have gone to sleep.
]STot a cloud is in the sky, while the warm sun,
now shining out brightly on camp and field,
NOTES FROM DIARY. 173
drives away the frosty breath of winter. Auspi
cious beginning of the Xcw Year. May it fore
shadow to the Xation the coming of its glorious
summer! Lieutenant-Colonel Frink, who has
been absent since the Bull Run battle, arrived
in camp to-day and took command of the regi
ment.
JANUARY 3. Reveille at 6 o clock A.M.; break
fast at 7; dinner at 12 ; supper at 5 P.M.; tattoo at
9, with drills, guard duty, and dress parade,
make up the routine of camp life, day after day.
But this dull monotony does not extend to the
world without. The President has issued his
Emancipation Proclamation, and the slaves in all
the States and parts of the States now in rebel
lion are declared forever free. "Events, not
hours, are the measure of progress."
JANUARY 7. The breaking out afresh of the
old wound has compelled Colonel Frink to re
turn home. Lieutenant-Colonel Batchelder, of
the Thirteenth Massachusetts, is assigned by
General Taylor to the command of the Eleventh.
JANUARY 10. There was a wedding at Belle
Plain Landing this afternoon. Too late to wit
ness the ceremony, we spent the time that the
boat was getting ready to leave for Washington
in a familiar chat with the bride and groom. It
was the same old story over again. They were
both natives of Stafford County. The groom
had enlisted at an early stage of the war in one
15*
174 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
of the Virginia regiments. He was with John
son in the Shenandoah Valley, and at the first
battle of Bull Run, and latterly in ^"orth Caro
lina. But a pair of handsome eyes were ever in
his memory, haunting him in camp, or bivouac,
or. battle. One dark night, while doing picket
duty on the Edisto, so deep a yearning came over
him, that deserting the picket post, and braving
the dangers of many long and wearisome miles,
he started for Virginia. After various fortunes
and hair-breadth escapes by land and by flood,
the deserter arrived in Stafford County just at the
moment the Federal army occupied Falmouth,
glad to find himself secure within the Union
lines. Those handsome eyes were now by his
side, all his own. One of our chaplains had mar
ried him and them, and with a pass to Washing
ton, signed by General Hooker, he and his wife,
without a friend, or even an acquaintance, but
with implicit faith in each other, were to try
their fortunes in the free and glorious !S~orth.
JANUARY 12. Except a small camp-guard, the
whole regiment is out on picket. Since Stuart s
cavalry passed around the right of the army as
far north as Dumfries, picket duty on the left has
been something more than mere name. Three
lines extend from the Potomac to the Rappahan-
nock, two of cavalry and one of infantry. The
last line is within a mile of our quarters. The
rebels make nightly visits to King George Court
THE VIRGINIA SCHOOLMASTER. 175
House, and there is a lurking suspicion that they
contemplate the larger game of falling upon our
camp or of attacking Belle Plain Landing, from
whence the Left Grand Division draws its sup
plies.
On our way back from the outer picket line,
whither we had gone in compan} T with the divi
sion officer of the day, we came up with a citi
zen of the Old Dominion, clothed in regular
homespun of the most approved butter-nut color.
We found him ready to converse, and so, by our
questions, led the way. We talked about his
farm, whose boundaries were pointed out as
marked by a "wattle fence," inclosing three
acres, strict measure. Corn and potatoes were
named as its principal productions. Two cows
supplied the family with milk and butter when
there were no soldiers about; for the citizen de
clared that every Yankee could milk a cow as
good as a woman, and that since the picket line
carne so near him, his wife was saved that
trouble.
The house was a frame building, of single
story and a single room, with door and window
in one. And yet so insidious is pride, and
withal so exacting, that even there, in that hum
ble dwelling, it demanded a place, and the good
man complained of it.
" Times aren t now as they were when I was
a boy. Then we spun our own cloth, and made
176 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
our own clothes. But people have got too proud,
sir; they won t have looms in their houses any
more."
The result was, that all the chickens they could
raise, and the geese, and turkeys, and ducks,
were sold in Frederickshurg to buy clothes,
which, but for the pride of this later generation,
might have been made at home. After he had
finished enumerating the sources of his income,
the Virginian must have detected the thought in
our mind, certainly it did not find expression,
that, putting all together, the chances for a living
were still exceedingly slim ; for he added that he
farmed only in a small way. He was a school
teacher, and had been such for thirteen years.
Here then was a real pedagogue. We were
misinformed. They did have that useful person
in Virginia, and we stood in his presence. In
deference to the memory of other days, we made
a low bow, and expressed ourselves as happy at
such an unexpected meeting. The pedagogue
went on to say that his stock of corn and po
tatoes, of poultry and pork was considerably
increased by the useful occupation of school
teaching, as in one or the other of these articles
his pupils always paid their tuition fee. It was
as good to him as money, he said, besides making
it much easier for people who want to "school"
their children to bear the expense, an out-crop
ping of the same spirit of forgetfulness of self for
NORTHERN CLAIM ON VIRGINIA. 177
the good of others, that everywhere animates the
brotherhood of teachers.
If we rode on toward our quarters, thinking
how many pounds of hacon, or how many pairs
of chickens, or bushels of potatoes were con
cerned in the education of the Southern chivalry,
it must have been because their camp-fires, on
the opposite side of the river, beginning to show
in the darkening twilight, called our thoughts in
that direction.
THURSDAY, January 15. Private Charles W.
Adams, of Co. B, died in hospital yesterday morn
ing of intermittent fever. The funeral was at
tended this afternoon by the entire regiment.
We buried him near Fletcher chapel, in a pine
grove, secure from the foot of the heedless in
truder. Almost every part of Virginia has be
come sacred to us as the burial place of our com
panions; and each new grave is as an another
reason why the Old Dominion must not be given
up. Xot only her battle-fields, but her grave
yards and highways belong to the North as the
endeared depositories of its noblest and bravest
sons.
178 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER IV.
BURNSIDE TO CROSS THE RAPPAHANNOCK.
FOR two weeks Burnside had been making
preparations for a second crossing of the Rappa-
hannock. Where the attempt should be made
was difficult to decide, and required a careful
survey of a large stretch of river shore. The
lines of the enemy extended twenty miles above
Fredericksburg, and an equal distance below,
while every fording of the Rappahannock was
defended on the south side by earth-works and
rifle-pits.
A point below the city was thought to offer
superior advantages for such a move ; and fatigue
parties were kept at work day and night con
structing roads and bridging water-courses and
ravines. But as far down as Port Royal, the op
posite shore differed little in formation from that
in our immediate front. There was the same
terrace of hills, and the same broad plain over
which we must march, promising, in case of at
tack, no more favorable results than the 13th of
December.
Above the city, both sides of the river were
alike, the bluffs running down to the water s
TROOPS IN MOTION. 179
edge, and forming a deep gorge for the bed of the
stream. The south bank was within easy cannon
range, and a crossing once effected, the carrying
of the hights could be made by assault, where
the advantage of attack or defense was much
more nearly equal. United States Ford, ten
miles above Fredericksburg, offered the best fa
cilities for laying pontoon bridges, and was the
place selected for this new adventure. Great
secrecy was observed in all the movements; and
on the 20th of January the Divisions of Franklin
and Hooker, keeping behind the Stafford hills
to evade the rebel look-outs, were marching to
the designated point.
The success of the present advance depended
entirely upon the celerity with which the several
departments of the army carried out the duties
assigned them. Five bridges were to be laid,
and the pontoons must not be a moment behind
the appointed hour. A large force of the enemy
was at Port Royal, and the crossing must be
made before Lee could have time to draw in his
extended lines. Xothing had been forgotten by
the commanding general. The road over which
each division was to march, where it would
bivouac, and where park its wagon trains, were
all marked out.
For two or three weeks the weather had been
charming, leaving the roads in excellent condi
tion for the movement of troops. But the men
180 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
had lost all their wonted enthusiasm. A mile
from camp, the order of General Burnside, an
nouncing that the Army of the Potomac was
again to meet the enemy was read to each regi
ment. The spirited words of the address did
not awaken a single response. A moody silence
closed the mouths of officers and men.
Those were dark days in the Army of the Po
tomac. It had lost confidence in itself, and in
its commander, and confidence in the Cause for
which it had endured so much. Xot only private
soldiers, but general officers, maligned every act
of the government, and talked of compromise
with the South on the best terms that could be
made. Men that had stood in their places on
every battle-field of the Peninsula, and at Bull
Run and Antietam, many of them bearing the
marks of honorable wounds, were now desert
ing by scores. Private letters, received from
different parts of the North, increased the feeling
of depression by their desponding tone, or en
couraged desertions by their defiant language.
From Western Pennsylvania one wrote : "De
serters are coming home rapidly, and meet with
such countenance and encouragement, that it
would be useless to try to arrest them. Any
severe punishment there [with the regiment]
would raise a storm of excitement and indigna
tion. The war seems to be more unpopular than
ever. There is a growing disposition to fight for
A WINTER STORM. 181
white men s rights, and to crush the despotic
power now so intent on making these subservient
to those of the negro. A revolution, peaceable
or forcible, is pending in the North."
Whether the successful crossing of the Rap-
pahannock and a sight of the old foe would have
aroused the flagging courage of the Federal
army, is a question that cannot be answered.
But in view of the vast interests at stake, it is
well, perhaps, that an experiment so full of peril
was not pushed to the issue.
Long before the Eleventh had reached its place
of bivouac, the clouds that overcast the noon
day sky were pouring forth a drenching rain
accompanied by a tempest of wind. On an open
field, without even the protection of a forest, the
men pitch ed their shelter tents. Cold and stormy
was the night that now set in, whose wearisome
and comfortless hours seemed to stretch them
selves to interminable lengths. But above the
beating of the rain, and the whistling of the
wind could be heard the terrible oaths of the
cannoneers and the bridge builders, urging for
ward their jaded teams drawing pontoons and
artillery.
Daylight of the 21st came through murky
clouds and a drizzling rain. The march was
continued within a short distance of the river.
What a change in twelve hours ! The hard roads
of yesterday had sunk two feet below, and the
16
182 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
army waded through a sea of mud. Pedestrians
and horsemen, by slow plodding, and tedious
windings, could barely navigate; but everything
on wheels was hopelessly bemired. Thirty-four
pounders and twelve pounders ; commissary
wagons and caissons; pontoon trains and ambu
lances, were at a dead lock, hub-deep in the
mud.
According to orders, the bridges were to be
laid at earliest dawn of this day. One hundred
boats were needed, but only fifteen had reached
the ford not enough for a single spanning of
the river. A hundred and fifty cannon were to
be posted along the overlooking hights not a
third of that number was up with the troops.
The w r atchful foe on the opposite shore was
now awake to our intentions. Still Burnside
was many hours in advance of any concentration
of forces that General Lee might attempt; and
throughout Wednesday earnest efforts were
made to bring up the artillery and the rest of
the bridges. Double teams and triple teams
were put to a single gun. Regiments of men
pried at the wheels and pulled at the ropes, but
the deceptive soil, so easy to penetrate, with its
surface of sand, held fast in its under-stratum of
clay by a grip impossible to escape.
Thursday morning, new earth-works began to
be seen on the other side of the Rappahannock,
and by railroad from the right, and plank road
from the left, the Southern legions were drawing
BURXSIDE IN THE MUD. 183
near the threatened point of United States Ford.
There was scarcely any abatement in the storm,
and no improvement in the roads. The elements
were against us. The time for striking a deci
sive blow had passed.
FRIDAY, January 23. Again in camp near
Fletcher chapel. Last night we were bivouacked
in the woods, half a mile from the river, expect
ing every moment to be ordered across. To-night,
knowing that the winter campaign is ended, the
troops of the division are enjoying the log-cabins
and clay huts erected weeks ago. So little con
fidence was there felt in the success of the last
move, that the men did not destroy their quarters.
There was nothing to do, on our return, but to
put on the canvas roofs to make them as good as
ever, except considerably dampened by the heavy
rain. The order to move back from United States
Ford came at daylight this morning. "We reached
camp about five o clock this afternoon, having
marched twelve or fourteen miles over roads
whose like for mud we never wish as;ain to see.
O
One must be here, and tramp through it, to know
the effects of a few hours rain upon the half sand
and half clay soil of Virginia. The rebels are in
high glee at our failure to cross the Rappahan-
nock, and are giving expression to their joy in
shouts and cheers that we can distinctly hear.
Perhaps if they knew how many on this side of
the stream regard that failure as the salvation
of the Union army, they would be less exultant.
VI.
CHAPTER I.
BURNSIDE GIVES PLACE TO HOOKER.
THREE days later in the month of January,
General Burnside was relieved of the command
of the Potomac Army, and General Joseph H.
Hooker appointed his successor. Franklin, of
the Left Grand Division, and Sumner, of the
Right Grand Division, were also relieved of their
respective commands.
The announcement of these several changes
was received by the troops with manifest uncon
cern. Who commanded outside of their own
regiment certainly outside of their own brigade
had come to be regarded as a matter of per
fect indifference. There was, therefore, neither
regret for the departure of Bnruside, nor enthu
siasm over the promotion of Hooker.
Desertions were still frightfully frequent
counting up two hundred a day. Those who
were successful in evading the pickets, wrote
back to camp, for the benefit of others that
might wish to leave, minute directions how to
(184)
ORGANIZED DESERTION. 185
proceed what route to take, where the line
was weakest, and where to inquire for help.
The route through Maryland was discovered
to offer fewer risks of detection to the runaway,
and therefore the most popular. Crossing the
Potomac in small boats that could easily .conceal
themselves in the numerous coves along the shore,
once in any of the lower counties of the State,
the deserter found himself among friends, where
he might change his attire of blue for that of the
citizen. When the picket boats were more than
usually watchful, and the sort of craft in which
the deserter took passage could not come from
the Maryland side, the crossing would be at
tempted on the frailest kind of improvised floats.
Many of these rafts, in the darkness of the night
the time always selected for such an adven
ture are known to have been run down by
steamers; and among the "missing" on the
army rolls, whose mysterious fate is still the
wonder of the household, are those who thus
ingloriously found a watery sepulture.
Besides its bad effects on the men that remained,
to lose by desertion at the rate of a regiment a
week was no small drain on the material strength
of the army. To stop this leak was the first con
cern of the new commander. A squadron of
cavalry was sent across into St. Mary s County,
Maryland, with orders to guard well all the roads
running north. The picket lines in Virginia
16*
186 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
were also re-established and extended ; but with
little perceptible improvement. There was evi
dent collusion between the vedette and the de
serter. Even those that were apprehended and
brought back, though in several instances severely
dealt with, failed to prove wholesome examples
to others. The true spirit of the soldier was
gone. Politics had supplanted patriotism ; and
a discontent, as broadcast as it was craven,
wasted the efficiency of officers and men.
At last the new feature of a complete system
of furloughs was introduced. Two commissioned
officers in a regiment, and two privates out of
every one hundred men, were granted ten days
leave of absence at a time. Cleanliness in ap
pearance, and proficiency in the manual of arms,
were also rewarded by furloughs. The publica
tion of this order was the first successful check
to desertion. Every man had now a hope of
visiting home, and for the sake of an honorable
visit, could well afford to bide his time.
The door once opened, numerous letters were
received by the commanding general from the
wives of soldiers, asking a short leave of absence
for their husbands. In all such cases the letters
were sent to the several regiments, so indorsed
by General Hooker as to secure a furlough to the
happy husband of the interceding wife. It will
be no violation of confidence at this late day, nor
any detriment to the service, to mention by way
A NEW BILL OF FARE. 187
of passing, that many of those wives were the
veriest myths, with but an imaginary existence,
or at best only wives prospective! y !
Another measure of General Hooker, not less
magical than the furlough system in its good ef
fects on the morale of the troops, and his own
popularity as a commander, was the generous
reinforcement of the commissary department.
The blood of the men had become degenerated.
They had lived too long on the low diet of hard
tack, salt pork, and coffee. Now to Uncle Sam s
bill of fare was added potatoes, onions, rice, and
molasses all unknown luxuries; and the com
missary sergeants gave out that in the opening of
spring, butter and eggs, and chickens already
roasted, would be issued as regular rations!
Ovens were ordered to be built in every bri
gade, and soft bread, of an excellent quality, was
given to the men instead of the inevitable hard
cracker.
With the Potomac River as the line of com
munication with Washington a line perfectly
secure from the interruption of guerrilla attacks
and a fleet of steamers, larger than that guard
ing the North Carolina coast, to convey supplies,
the rations were as abundant in quantity as they
were good in kind and agreeable in variety. The
allowance to ten men for a period of thirty days,
as compared with the actual consumption of a
family of equal number in civil life, will show
188 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
that the charge of starvation could not be suc
cessfully maintained against the military author
ities of that winter.
To ten men in camp were issued in the course
of thirty days three hundred pounds of meat; four
hundred and thirteen pounds of bread over two
barrels of flour; thirty pounds of rice; ninety
pounds of onions; forty-five pounds of sugar;
twenty four pounds of ground coffee; ninety
pounds of potatoes; four pounds of candles;
twelve pounds of soap; one pound of pepper;
six quarts of salt; three quarts of molasses; three
gallons of vinegar.
A regiment of one thousand men consumed
weekly within a fraction of twenty-four thousand
pounds of rations. Every man weighing not
more than one hundred and forty-five pounds,
during the four months of our stay at Fletcher
chapel camp, consumed nearly three times his
weight in coffee and sugar, bread, meat, onions,
and potatoes.
The winter passed through all the variations
of climate peculiar to that region of Virginia;
one day mild and spring-like, and the next day
cold as the latitude of the Alleghany Mountains.
But an improved condition of affairs soon mani
fested itself among the troops. There was a
more cheerful submission to discipline, a more
hearty discharge of duty; and as each man be
gan to think better of himself, he thought better
ARMY KEPT EMPLOYED. 189
of the Cause for which he was contending. "Well
clothed and well fed, the old enthusiasm that
carried the army through the campaigns of the
former year was seen to return.
Though there were no battles to be fought,
there was woik enough on picket, and in the
details for fatigue duty, to keep all employed,
thus driving away the evils ever attendant upon
a stationary army. Thousands of men were en
gaged every hour of the day at the several land
ings where supplies were received, in unloading
steamers and loading up wagons. Miles of cor
duroy road were constructed, leading from the
numerous camps to Belle Plain, Falmouth, and
Aquia Creek. Ancient highways and landmarks
were utterly ignored in the construction of these
roads, and the landowner will find the evidences
of Yankee industry where he least expects them,
and where he least desires them some-times run
ning across the meadow, and over the lawn, and
through the barn-yard. For generations to come
those old corduroy roads, so different from any
thing natural to Virginia in their vast expenditure
of labor and skill, will be interesting remains of
the great conflict.
But with all this work to do, there were many
leisure hours; and the chaplain could see the im
proved spirits of the men in the manner in which
they employed their leisure. Xo church choir,
with its accompaniment of splendid organ, ever
190 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
sent forth grander sounds of music than the even-
ing breezes then wafted from the group of men
that used to meet in the clear, open moonlight,
for praise and prayer. There was also a closer
intercommunion, through letter writing, with
the better associations of home, prompted doubt
less by the excellent mail arrangements of the
army.
Even the recreations of the camp took a dif
ferent turn, and wore a changed complexion.
With many of the men it was an impossible un
dertaking to convince them that there was any
harm in a simple game at cards, only engaged in
to pass the time, and where nothing was lost or
won. But the game did not always maintain
this assumed innocency of character. The morbid
state of mind, growing out of the wide spread
discontent, found a momentary relief in desper
ate venture, in which officers and men alike
indulged, and where the only support of depend
ent ones at home was oftentimes wickedly squan
dered.
It was the sign of a healthier state of morals,
as well as of physics, when the men began to
seek recreation in the open air, in trials of phys
ical strength, and in the dextrous pitch of the
quoit, or toss of the ball. And when, in the exu
berance of their spirits, a delinquent mess-mate
was placed on a blanket made taut by the grip
of a score of hands, and bounded ten feet into
IMPROVED CONDITION OF THE TROOPS. 191
the air, to come down again in the midst of the
merry group, only to make a second and a third
such involuntary upward flight, it was always
more pleasant to hear the hearty laugh, over
these rough out-door camp sports, than to reflect
that, for want of the spirit to engage in more
manly recreation, many were dissipating hody
and soul around the card-tahle or the dice-board.
Xot content with its own proper allotment of
time, the winter made heavy draughts upon the
spring months of March and April. Through
much of the former month we were disposed to
think that there had been an upheaving in other
affairs than those of the nation, and that some
how March had jostled itself into the place of
.February. Such blustering and biting winds as
swept over that northern neck of Virginia are
scarcely more pleasant to think of than they were
to endure.
One particular night the winds made the camp
of the Eleventh the point of their fiercest as
saults. Away down the ravines, and over the
hills, we could tell by the deep and sullen roar
that there was a gathering of those ariel troop
ers. Waken when we would, they were howling
round the tent, straining at the ropes, and striking
such angry blows against its sides and roof as to
make one wonder whether the next minute would
not leave him houseless in the unpitying storm.
At last there was a momentary lull. Morning
192 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
was nearly ready to dawn, and we thought the
disturbers of our dreams had fled to their secret
hiding-places. It was a fond thought ! Gather
ing all their forces for a mighty effort, before the
sun should see them at their furious work, a
thundering blast struck our tent. The long-
strained ropes parted in every strand. The sides,
first collapsing, were thrown madly back upon
the roof, while unseen arms, catching up the
ruined tent, hurled it to the ground fifty feet
distant.
The same rude blast that carried away our
house stripped the bed whereon we lay of all its
covering, and but for the timely assistance of the
thoughtful quartermaster, we should have been
left to meet the keen morning weather with far
less covering than that required by army regula
tions.
But the March winds, hardening the mud, put
a new bottom in the worn-out Virginia roads,
and early in April, throughout every department
of the troops, there was the usual hurry attend
ant on an important movement. Discarding the
Right, Left, and Center Grand Divisions, Hooker
had reorganized his army into corps. The First
Corps, under command of General John F. Rey
nolds, included the Divisions of Wadsworth,
Doubleday, and Robinson, to the latter of which
belonged the Eleventh.
The roll of the drum and the sound of the bu-
PREPARATIONS TO MARCH. 193
gle called forth from the log cabins and clay huts,
in which they had passed a third of the year,
one hundred thousand men. It was the opening
of the spring campaign, and Hooker was to re
peat the undertaking in which Burnside had
twice signally failed.
CHAPTER II.
THE CHANCELLORVILLE CAMPAIGN.
EVERY possible crossing of the Rappahannock
had been rendered doubly secure by the indus
trious enemy, and the game of strategy com
menced now was more desperate than ever.
Stoneman s cavalry had already started on its
perilous journey to the rear of the rebel army,
designed to sever all communication with Rich
mond. Doubleday s Division of the First Corps
was sent to Port Conway, and kindling fires along
the route gave out the impression of a large
force preparing to cross there. Following after
Stoneman were the three corps of Slocum, How
ard, and Meade. Marching far to the right, and
crossing first the Rappahannock and then the
Rapidan, these corps were concentrated in the
17
194 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Wilderness, near Chancellorville, before the
foiled and baffled enemy knew where the Fed
eral commander intended to strike his first blow.
Longstreet s Corps was absent from our front,
operating in the neighborhood of Suffolk. A
part of Lee s forces had been drawn off in the
direction of Port Con way, and further to divert
attention from the right, on the afternoon of
April 28th the First Corps moved directly toward
the Rappahaunock. There was now no lurking
suspicion that the Eleventh would ever again oc
cupy the old camp. Quarters that had been built
with great care, and at an outlay of much mus
cle in keeping with true soldier policy to destroy
what cannot be used were either leveled to the
ground or given to the flames.
A short march of two or three miles, and we
bivouacked in the woods until three o clock next
morning. Then continuing the advance, by day
light of the 29th the corps was massed along the
river, in front of the Fitzhugh house. Over
against us, clothed in the bright green of spring,
were those murderous hights and that fatal plain
of the last December. But neither the recollec
tion of former defeat, nor the threatening line of
rifle-pits occupied by the enemy, abated the ar
dor of the men. The pontoons were quickly laid,
and Wadsworth s Division crossed to the south
side, losing in the transit nine men killed and
forty or fifty wounded, but clearing out the rifle-
FIRST CORPS ON THE LEFT. 195
pits with a loss to the enemy of twenty-three
killed and one hundred prisoners.
Fitzhugh mansion was the residence of Major
Norman Fitzhugh, of the Confederate army. The
estate contained a thousand acres, and from the
broad veranda in front of the dwelling was pre
sented a scene of rare landscape loveliness. The
parlor carpets had been taken up and sent to
the Richmond hospitals, to be used as substitutes
for blankets, but there still remained costly tables
and sideboards, elegant chairs and sofas, and rich
adornings of damask curtains, and choice paint
ings. These parlors were converted into a hos
pital, and amid such surroundings we attended
our wounded, .while the surgeons spread their
amputating tables in the spacious hall.
"When was your master home, uncle?" we
inquired of an old servant.
"Only tother day, sah. He is in de camp jist
across de riber, dab. He can see now all dat s
gwine on ober here."
Early on the morning of the 30th, the enemy
was seen moving up the river in considerable
force, and tiling off behind the Fredericksburg
hights. Turning our guns upon the column,
that came within easy range at the fording of
Massaponax Creek, we attracted the fire of seve
ral rebel batteries, that for an hour devoted them
selves to the destruction of our pontoon bridges.
One shell, exploding in the Thirteenth Massa-
196 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
chusetts, that lay to our right, killed Captain
Bush and five men, and severely wounded ten
others.
Occasionally, through the night of the 29th,
as the First Corps still maintained its position on
the left, a cannon discharge was heard high up
the river, indicating important movements in
other parts of the field. "With morning came a
dispatch from General Hooker, announcing that
the operations on the right had been so success
ful that the enemy would be compelled to come
out from behind his intrenchments, and fight on
open ground, or give up his strongly fortified
position. The Union army had an abiding faith
that on an open field it must be victorious, and the
announcement was received with shouts so loud
and long that the rebel column halted in its
march, startled by the awakened echoes.
Saturday, May 2d, Fitzhugh hospital was
given up to those wounded on Wednesday and
Thursday, and the First Corps marched to Chan-
cellorville. Besides sixty rounds of ammunition,
the men carried in their haversacks eight days
rations. Thus equipped, those twenty miles were
a fatiguing march; but every belching cannon
seemed to tell that our presence was needful to
success, and the men toiled bravely on. It was
midnight when the Eleventh, at the head of the
Third Division, reached the banks of the Rappa-
hannock. Filing down the narrow and tortuous
INTO THE WILDERNESS. 197
road to the river, and crossing at United States
Ford, on the opposite side we entered the Wil
derness.
Never was a dreary and desolate belt of coun
try more properly named. It is a region of dense
woods, not of large trees, but of gnarled and ill-
shapen oak, so thickly studding the ground,
which in many places is broken and marshy,
that a man could hardly march through it with
out trailing his musket. But the Wilderness on
that night was a scene of appalling grandeur.
The bursting shells had ignited the dry leaves,
and the red names, running up the tree trunks
and enveloping the highest branches, made the
whole country like an ocean of lire.
Up to Saturday afternoon, all had gone well at
Chancellorville. Considering the nature of the
ground, the troops were in admirable position for
attack or defense, patiently awaiting the devel
opment of General Hooker s plans. Toward
four o clock a suspicious movement was observed
on the part of the enemy. Stonewall Jackson,
with a force of forty thousand men, was coming
around on our right Hank. Whether it was a re
treat, or a contemplated attack upon some point
of the line, did not at once appear. The column
was a mile distant, marching along the plank
road leading from Fredericksburg to Gordons-
ville; and to ascertain its destination, a division
of the Third Corps was pushed out on a recon-
17*
198 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
noissance. It was soon found that whatever else
the movement meant, it did not mean a retreat,
and another division of the same corps, with a
part of Pleasanton s cavalry, was also sent for
ward.
It was now dark, and falling upon the flank of
Jackson, the advance of the Third Corps prom
ised to he a brilliant success. But meanwhile
the enemy, acting out the peculiar strategy of
Jackson, massed a heavy force in front of the
Eleventh Corps holding the Federal right; and
without throwing forward so much as a skirm-
O
isher, hurled his whole force against that one
point of our line. Unable to resist the impetu
ous assault, and stricken with panic, the entire
corps gave way. Scarcely a shot was fired in
their desperate haste, and the mass of fugitives
throwing away guns and haversacks, and stam
peding artillery and ambulances, well-nigh con
founded the whole field.
While these terrified troops were thus stream
ing to the rear by hundreds, others, throwing
themselves into the deserted place, were perform
ing deeds of heroic valor. General Pleasanton,
coming to the right with two regiments of cav
alry, took in at one glance the whole measure of
the catastrophe. The rebels were already in
rear of our troops, and still pressing onward.
" I saw," said the general, " that it was a critical
moment. Calling Major Keenau, of the Eighth
JACKSON S FLANK ATTACK. 199
Pennsylvania Cavalry, I said to him, Major, you
must charge into the woods with your regiment,
and hold the rebels until I can get some of these
abandoned guns into position. You must do it
at all cost. I gave this order to the major be
cause I knew his character so well ; that he was
the man for the occasion. He replied to me with
a smile on his face, though it was almost certain
death :
"General, I will do it.
" He then started in with his whole regiment
of about four hundred men. It was one of the
most gallant charges of the war. The major
was killed at the head of his troops, but he
alarmed the enemy so much that I gained about
ten minutes of precious time. I immediately
run up my horse battery at a gallop, put it into
position, ordered it unlimbered and double-
shotted with canister, and directed the men to
aim at the ground line of the parapet that the
Eleventh Corps had thrown up, about two hun
dred yards off. I then set to work with two
squadrons of the remaining regiment to clear this
field of fugitives, arid to stop what cannon and
ammunition that we could and put them in posi
tion. I managed to get twenty-two guns loaded,
double-shotted, and aiming on this space in front
of us The whole woods now appeared to be
alive with men. I had ordered the pieces not to
fire unless I gave the word, because I wanted the
200 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
effect of an immense shock. Presently the rebels
commenced leaping over the parapet, and as they
did so, I saw eight or ten battle-flags run up the
line. I immediately gave the order -fire! and
the fire actually swept the men away; it seemed to
blow those men in front clean over the parapet."
Sunday morning the battle was renewed on
this disputed part of the field. But though the
rebels came to the work with great spirit, their
attacks showed the absence of the intrepid Stone
wall Jackson. In the assault of the night be
fore, either by the shots of his own men or the
murderous fire of Pleasanton, Jackson had been
mortally wounded, and the hero of so many bat
tles was now far to the rear, in a dying condition.
The same volley that struck Jackson to the
ground, killed, wounded, or dismounted his entire
escort, except one aid-de-camp and a signal officer.
In removing the dying general to the rear, one of
the men carrying the stretcher on which he lay
was shot through both arms, and dropped his
burden. His companion did likewise, hastily
flying from the dangerous locality, and but for
one of the officers present, who caught the han
dle of the litter, it would have fallen to the
ground.
"Under these circumstances the litter was
lowered into the road, and the officers lay down
by it to protect themselves in some degree from
the merciless hurricane of grape and canister
DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON. 201
which whistled through the air. They lay in
this manner without moving, and in the midst
of the most terrific confusion. A few minutes
before, the road had been crowded, and now no
man or beast was visible except those writhing
in the agonies of death. The wounded soldier
and his companions were the sole living human
beings upon the gloomy scene."*
The rout of the Eleventh Corps lost to Hooker
the key of the position at Chancellorville. But
the original line was maintained throughout the
night, though at great disadvantage, for the pur
pose of co-operating with the movement of Gen
eral Sedgwick on the left. The First Corps took
position on the right of the army, with Robin
son s Division as the extreme right of the corps.
Occupying the center of the division, Taylor s
Brigade was thrown across the road leading to
Ely s Ford on the Rapidan. Excepting the nar
row road in front, and here and there a bare
place of several yards in extent, this part of the
line was a dense woods. Into the deep under
brush, the Xinth Xew York was deployed as
pickets, while the rest of the brigade strength
ened the position by throwing up intrenchrnents.
Thompson s Pennsylvania Battery was also added
to the force, which completed the preparations for
a stubborn resistance, should the enemy again
attempt to break through the right.
* Cooke s Life of Jackson.
202 STORY OF THE REGIMENT*
Though the attack of Sunday morning did not
reach our immediate front, many of the enemy s
wounded, lost in that entangled wilderness, came
within our lines and were captured. A half-fam
ished rebel picket, leaving his musket in charge
of a companion, crawled a few feet through
the brush, where the ground seemed to slope a
little, to a marshy spot that promised a canteen
full of water. So near were the opposing lines,
and yet so completely hidden from each other,
that those few feet brought the Georgia ranger
within reach of our own watchful picket, keep
ing guard on the counter slope of the same shal
low ravine.
Monday morning was ushered in by a daring
attempt, some distance to the left, near the Rap-
pahannock. Discovering a wide gap in the Fed
eral lines, the enemy boldly pushed forward four
guns to the brow of the river hill, and discharged
their contents into our wagon train, parked on
the north side. It was the last fire of that bat
tery against us. Closing up the gap, and before
they had time to reload, gunners and guns were
added to the list of captives.
General Sedgwick had taken the hights of
Fredericksburg, and was reported as marching
up in rear of the rebels. As we sat behind our
intrenchments, listening to the heavy sound of
exploding cannon, we tried to imagine that each
distinct report was coming nearer. Later in the
FIRST CORPS ON THE RIGHT. 203
day, attention was diverted from the left to the
front. So tierce was the fire of musketry and
artillery, that for a moment it was believed that
Sedgwick had driven the entire rebel army upon
us ; and that they were determined to make up
on the right what they were certainly losing on
the left.
When comparative quiet was restored, the
Ninety-seventh Xew York, that had relieved the
Xinth Xew York of picket duty, was in turn re
lieved by the Eleventh. There was evident un
easiness all along the rebel front; but the frequent
alarms throughout the night, when the discharge
of a single gun drew forth the fire of the whole
picket line, made another attack like that of
Saturday night impossible.
Tuesday morning, May 5th, General Hooker s
plans had entirely miscarried. Compelled to
retire from his first line at Chancellorville by the
breaking of the Eleventh Corps, there was an
equally disastrous failure on the part of General
Sedgwick to carry out the operations assigned
to him. Instead of uniting his forces with
those on the right, the advantage of the cap
ture of Fredericksburg hights was all lost; and
to save his command from destruction or cap
ture, Sedgwick was compelled to retire by way
of Bank s Ford to the north side of the Rappa-
hannock.
Hooker now determined to withdraw from
204 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Chancellorville. The movement was to com
mence on Monday night. But a heavy rain
storm, swelling the river to flood-night, and
making it necessary to take up one of the pon
toon bridges to lengthen the remaining two, de
layed the crossing until Tuesday. The retrograde
march was from left of the line to right. Early
Wednesday morning Colonel Coulter was ordered
to call in the Eleventh, still on picket, as quietly
as possible. An hour later, the regiment was
concentrated in the intrenchments, now aban
doned by all but the One-hundred-and-seventh
Pennsylvania. We were the rear-guard of the
army.
Moving quickly back toward the river, with
flanks and rear protected by a strong line of
skirmishers, of all the thousands of men who
had marched over that ground, and the hundreds
of wagons and artillery that were going and com
ing night and day for a week past, nothing was
to be seen. The tire that blazed so furiously
in the midnight of Saturday, had burned far
into the woods, leaving the road-side lined with
charred and smouldering tree trunks, while here
and there a noble oak, growing among its meaner
kind, and more tenacious of life than they, pre
sented in that early morning a heart still glowing
with tire.
Xot a foe followed our retreat; and by eight
o clock of the 6th of May, the army of General
RETREAT FROM THE WILDERNESS. 205
Hooker, excepting the brave men that lay dead
or wounded on the field, had recrossed the Rap-
pahannock.
CHAPTER III.
AFTER THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORVILLE.
THE heavy rain that threatened to carry down
the pontoon bridges, and leave Hooker without
a way of retreat from the Wilderness, had a
damaging effect upon the tine smooth roads over
which, but a few days before, the army had
marched to Chancellorville. In the depth of the
mud, now worked up to the consistency of thin
mortar by the troops that preceded us, the rear
guard had much to remind it of the muddy
"march of the last January. But unincumbered
by either wagons or artillery, the men picked
their way, as best they could, first on one side of
the road, then on the other, bivouacking at night
two miles above Falmouth.
A depot of rations, found not far from the
ford, without commissary sergeant or guard, was
seized as public property, from which the men
replenished their empty haversacks. Thus pro
vided for an ample feast, after the hurried eating
on the battle-field, which is never scarcely better
18
206 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
than a semi-fast, the hour of bivouac was heartily
welcomed.
Hooker s new line of defense was nearer the
Rappahannock than that maintained during the
winter, throwing the First Corps still further
down the Northern Neck, and bringing the
camps of the Third Division some distance below
the mouth of Mattaponax Creek. One day later
than the rest of the troops, the Eleventh joined
the division, once more taking position on the
extreme left, and again near the outer line of
pickets.
There was no longer any need of winter
quarters; but the warm sun, every day growing
warmer, suggested a protection from its exhaust
ing heat, which was dignified with the home-
sounding title of summer-house. A frame work
of saplings, so constructed as to cover the top of
the tent and extend some distance in front of it,
was overlaid with branches of spruce and hem
lock, making a roof that at once screened us
from the rays of the sun, and threw an agreeable
shade around our canvas dwellings.
Within the shadow of these bowers was dis
cussed the successes and failures of the last bat
tle. In the Union army, where every man had
access to newspapers containing such admirable
correspondence from every part of the field, all
the different points of a campaign came very
soon to be well understood and freelv canvassed.
FEELING AMONG THE TROOPS. 207
It cannot be said that the failure of Chancel-
lorville had any bad effect on the troops other
than that it was a disappointment. There had
not been enough of hard marching or unsuccess
ful fighting to dishearten them. A compara
tively small part of the army was actually en
gaged with the enemy, and the larger part that
remained idle in the hearing of guns and in
the sight of battle-lines, felt disappointed that
the whole of General Hooker s splendid army
had not been brought against Lee; as in that
event victory would have been certain.
The men of the army always spoke of their
commander as "Fighting Joe." Playing upon
that familiar mode of expression, the rebels now
called him " Fallen Joe." But though Hooker had
failed of positive success in the Wilderness, he
had crossed the Rappahannock; surprised the
enemy in his intrenchments; captured five thou
sand prisoners, and disabled eighteen thousand
of his chosen troops. The battle of Chancel lor-
ville was accepted rather as an earnest of what
Hooker could do, than a proof of what he had not
done.
Not far from the camp of the Eleventh was
another of those Virginia mansions, resembling
in its generous dimensions, as in its internal
finish and outward beauty of grounds, the resi
dence of Major Fitzhugh. The proprietor was
in the South, and for two years the fields had
208 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
been uncultivated, and the garden and lawn suf
fered to grow wild with weeds, save the little
attention given to them by a family of miserably
poor white retainers living on a part of the
estate.
In two days after our arrival, if one had made
a tour through the encampments of the First
Corps lying nearest this mansion, he might have
found distributed here and there, as additions
either ornamental or useful, almost everything
that could be carried from the forsaken house. The
heavy panneled doors were transformed into camp
bedsteads of the most approved style, or made to
serve the meaner purpose of a tent floor. In one
of our company streets, cool and airy quarters
were constructed of its Venetian shutters ; and
though all the glass had been broken from the
windows, members of another company, not to be
outdone by the inventive genius of their neigh
bors, carried away the empty sash, of which
they built quarters still more cool and airy.
Scattered over the floors, and mingled with
broken china and mahogany, were papers and
letters doubtless of great value to the family,
because of the many years through which they
had been preserved. An old ledger told that in
the beginning of the present century, the elder
proprietor was a merchant, living in Port Royal,
on the Rappahannock. The Fitzhughs, and the
Lewises, and the Slaughters, and Hed^man, and
REVELATIONS OF OLD LETTERS. 209
Taliferio, were among his customers ; in many
instances buying at a single purchase of shoes,
cotton goods, and calico (supplies for their slaves)
to the value of ^50.
A soldier, with nothing else to employ his
leisure time, gathered a bundle of these scattered
papers and brought them into camp. It was a
strange coincidence, that two of the letters thus
preserved should present the old Virginia mer
chant in such different phases of character. One
letter was from a clergyman, thanking him for
his "thoughtful gift" of twenty pounds. The
other was from a lady, appealing to him, as the
executor of her deceased husband, to deal justly
with herself and dependent children.
Our field glasses revealed a state of things on
the south bank of the Rappahannock very like
to that existing on its north side. There, too,
summer bowers could be seen, mingling their
dark green with tents bleached to pure whiteness
by the spring rains and the summer sun. The
pickets were in easy speaking distance of each
other, and for a time neither army seemed dis
posed to do more than lazily patrol the opposite
shores of the river.
Then came alarms from the rebel side. There
were movements of artillery, and marchings of
infantry, that awakened suspicion, and led to the
belief that the enemy contemplated a crossing
somewhere on the loft. Between corps head-
is*
210 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
quarters and the pickets, a line of couriers was
established, and the old spirit of vigilance, suf
fered to sleep awhile after the battle of Chan-
cellorville, was fully aroused.
Tow ird the latter part of May, the camp was
astir at midnight by a report that the enemy was
crossing the river in large force. Wagons were
packed and moved out to the road, and the troops
got in readiness to form in line at a moment s
notice. But it turned out to be a false alarm,
thus accounted for by one from the south side:
" Night before last an incident occurred which
exhibited their [our] nervousness. A party of
Mississippi an s undertook to draw a sein in the
river near Knox s mills. The Yankees concluded
that the Rappahannock was being crossed by the
Confederate army, and at once the heavens were
illuminated with their rockets the picket lines
were doubled, and their whole camp gave every
indication of fearful apprehension. Fallen Joe,
however, was permitted to pass the night unmo
lested by the sein-haulers."
These alarms, far down on the left, were a part
of General Lee s plans. "With their resources
well-nigh exhausted, and hard pressed to subsist
the army in the impoverished country where it
had passed the winter, the authorities at Rich
mond again and again demanded of Lee to assume
the offensive. Hooker s failure was accepted as
the dawning of the propitious hour for such an
GENERAL HENRY BAXTER. 211
undertaking, and behind the hills, across the
narrow channel, the Southern leader was mar
shaling his legions for the invasion of the Xorth.
O O
The strength of the First Corps was greatly
reduced by the discharge of troops whose term
of enlistment had expired, compelling a reorgan
ization of its divisions and several of its brigades.
o
After the battle of Fredericksburg, General Taylor
resigned the command of the Third Brigade, and
retired from the service. During the Chancellor-
ville campaign, it was under command of Colonel
Leonard, of the Thirteenth Massachusetts. In
the reorganizing of Robinson s Division, the
O 5
three brigades that formerly composed it were
consolidated into two brigades. The Thir
teenth Massachusetts, Orie-hundred-and-fourth
New York, One-hundred-and-seventh Pennsyl
vania, and Sixteenth Maine, formed the First
Brigade, under command of General Paul. The
Eleventh, Eighty-eighth, and Ninetieth Penn
sylvania Regiments, and the Ninth and Ninety-
seventh New York Regiments, formed the Second
Brigade, under command of Gen. Henry Baxter.
General Baxter was at the head of the Seventh
Michigan Regiment in its charge across the Rap-
pahannock in pontoon boats, on the 12th of De
cember, driving away the rebel sharp-shooters,
that for half a day retarded the laying of Sum-
ner s bridges. The gallant feat won for him a
brigadier s star. Baxter s fame had preceded
212 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
him, and when he took charge of the brigade,
the men were as proud of their new general as
the general himself was proud of his new com
mand.
The Eleventh began its march northward with
two hundred and eighty-eight men, scarcely a
third of the number with which it had marched
southward a year before. Some of its numerous
wounded had recovered and were again in their
places; while many others, including the two
subordinate field officers, were still absent.
The vacancies occasioned among the line offi
cers, by death or resignation, were mostly filled.
Sergeant-major Arthur F. Small was promoted
to adjutant; and Commissary-sergeant Allen S.
Jacobs to be quartermaster. Doctor W. F. Os-
borne, of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania,
had been assigned to the regiment as second as
sistant surgeon, vice Doctor Morris resigned, be
fore we left Fletcher chapel. The time of service
of the 132d Pennsylvania Regiment having ex
pired, Doctor Anawalt was returned to the
Eleventh as surgeon.
FRIDAY, June 12. Between five and six o clock
this morning, the Second Brigade of the First
Corps moved out of camp. Three hearty cheers
were given for General Hooker as we passed
army headquarters. We are now bivouacked at
Deep Run mill, on the road leading to Warren-
ton, twenty-two miles from the point of starting.
MARCHING NORTHWARD. 213
The heat of the day was oppressive; and what
with their kuapsacks on their hacks, and the
dust settled in hair and eyebrows, the men looked
like a regiment of octogenarians, instead of the
stalwart Western hoys that they are. That part
of the road lying between Falmouth and Hart-
wood church was passed over last spring in our
march from Manassas to Fredericksburg. Deep
Run mill is a large stone building half a century
old. The flood-gates are torn away, and the
burrs removed, to prevent its use by the Yan
kees.
SATURDAY, June 13. It was nearly seven
o clock this morning before the column got fairly
started; and although the rests were frequent,
the march was full of weariness. We are halted
for the night in a thick woods between the Rap-
pahannock and Bealton Station, on the Orange
and Alexandria Railroad. A large rebel force is
reported to be concentrating on the opposite side
of the river, and the troops are going into bivouac
in line of battle. During last August, while the
Eleventh was engaged at the bridge just below,
holding the rebel advance in check, Jackson s
forces passed to the right, and made their appear
ance on the plains of Manassas. Many express
themselves to-night that the same programme is
to be enacted ; and that the annual battle of
Bull Run will be fought some weeks earlier.
MONDAY MORNING, June 15. Three days ago
214 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
we were eight miles below Fredericksburg, on
the Rappahannock ; this morning the First Corps
is encamped at Manassas. General Halleckonce
said that the great want of the Army of the Po
tomac was legs. He will be glad to learn that
we have come into possession of those valuable
appendages, and know how to use them. The
march of yesterday, if not the longest in miles,
was the longest in hours we have ever made.
Leaving the woods near Bealton at nine o clock
A.M., Sabbath, the regiment halted this morning
at four o clock, marching nineteen hours, with
only one hour s rest at Broad Run. From Beal
ton to Bristow the route was new to the Eleventh,
and made up the broken link in the chain of
inarches through this part of Virginia We have
now traversed almost every foot of its territory
from the Potomac to the Shenandoah, east and
west, and from Alexandria to the Rapidan, north
and south.
MONDAY EVENING. Shortly after eight o clock
this morning the march was resumed across Ma
nassas plains toward Centerville. Every spot was
familiar, for no less than six different times have
we encamped on this ground. Manassas never
looked so beautiful as now, clothed in the rich
verdure of early summer. But although the
green grass covers up many a foul spot, and hides
from view the graves, and in some instances the
unburied bones of our companions, nothing can
ACROSS MANASSAS PLAINS. 215
wipe out the memory of the terrible conflicts
that will always be associated with this sanguinary
battle-field. To-night we are encamped on the
hights of Centerville.
CHAPTER IV.
THE STRATEGY OF HOOKER AND LEE.
"The service required of the First Corps will
be of such a nature that all unnecessary baggage
must be left behind," read the order of General
Hooker the day before the corps left the Rappa-
hannock.
When General Lee commenced moving it
w r as uncertain whether he was making for the
Shenandoah Valley or the Orange and Alexandria
Railroad, by way of Thoroughfare Gap. In either
event, the possession of Manassas and the hights
of Centerville was of vast moment to the Fed
eral commander, and hence the rapid marching
of the First Corps to those points. At the same
time of our bivouac at Centerville, the head
of the rebel column reached the vicinity of Win
chester, and from all the signal stations came the
same report that Lee was concentrating a large
army in the Valley. Still, the real object of the
216 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
m
Confederate commander did not clearly appear,
arid then commenced that series of strategic op
erations between Lee and Hooker that reflected
such credit upon the latter.
In less than one week all the corps of the Po
tomac Army were massed in the region of Fair
fax Court House. The Blue Ridge rose between
the two opposing generals, hiding from each
the movements of the other. The wily Lee, who
marched so rapidly at the first, halted his main
column under cover of the mountain, sending
only a part of his forces to ravage the shores of
the Potomac. He had expected to see General
Hooker, in his eagerness to protect the threat
ened border, cross his forces into Maryland, and
leave open all the easy approaches to the national
capital. But the brave Pleasanton, with his fear
less troopers, penetrated the gaps of the Blue
Ridge, and revealed the designs of the enemy.
While the First Corps was halted at Guilford
Station, on the London and Hampshire Railroad,
Pleasanton s cavalry was approaching Aldie Gap.
The outline of the country stretching away to
ward the Blue Ridge was such that, occupied by
the enemy, he could hang upon our flank and
rear, observe all our movements, and harass us
at every step. General Stuart made a march of
forty miles in one day to get into this territory,
and on the morning of June 21st, in the very
act of passing through Aldie, encountered Pleas-
THE GUERRILLA MOSEBY. 217
anton. The fight was long and severe; but the
rebels were finally driven back, and retreated
through Middleburg. Lee s strategy was now at
an end; and following in the wake of Swell s
Corps, his whole army invaded Maryland and
Pennsylvania.
On the march from Centerville to Guilford
Station, we had an instance of the daring ex
ploits of the guerrilla Moseby, within whose do
mains we then found ourselves. Two clerks,
belonging to the brigade commissary, rode oft
some distance from the troops to procure a
supply of forage for the horses. Scarcely had
they left the road over which our wagon train
was passing, on their way to a farm-house across
the fields, when, in going through a narrow strip
of woods, they fell into the hands of Moseby.
The party, consisting of the guerrilla chief and
a dozen men dressed in Federal uniform, were
mistaken for a squad of our own cavalry. Re
lieving the clerks of the pistols they always car
ried in their belts, but never used, the prisoners
were ordered to remain seated on their horses,
and observe perfect quiet. In a little while,
placing our boys in the center of the squad, and
intimating what would be the result in case of
the slightest alarm, the guerrillas boldly galloped
out into the road, riding some distance along
with the train, and again taking to the woods on
the opposite iiank.
10
218 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Excepting to disarm them, not the slightest in
dignities had thus far been offered, and Moseby
seemed determined to convince his captives not
only in words, but by actions, that he was not
the style of person the Yankees represented him.
"Your papers speak of us as guerrillas, and
every murder committed between the Potomac
and the Blue Ridge is blamed on me or some of
my men. These charges are all false. We are
an independent command, to be sure, but a part
of the Confederate cavalry, and only kill when
we cannot capture, just as your men do. It is
my business now to get all the information I can
of your movements, and that is what I have been
doing to-day. We have gone all along your
trains, and from the marks on the wagons, and
conversation with the drivers, I know how
many corps are moving in this direction, and
where you will probably bivouac to-night. If
any horses should stray away from camp, or men
either, for that matter, they may be among the
missing in the morning."
Riding up to a house, partly hid in an apple
orchard, another source from which Moseby
derived his information was discovered. The
farmer met him at the gate with every expres
sion of hearty welcome. Two Yankee soldiers
had been there an hour before, to \\hom he had
given dinner, in the hope of getting some news
out of them. "But they were a stupid pair/
PARTING WITH VIRGINIA. 219
said the farmer, "and only knew that they be
longed to the Eleventh Corps."
Moseby retained his prisoners until next morn
ing, and then released them on parole. If he
had not kept their horses, thus compelling the
clerks to walk ten or twelve miles to overtake
the brigade, so far as their experience went, the
partisan chief might have received more credit
for cleverness than he deserved.
SATURDAY MORNING, June 27. Although or
ders to be ready to move were received on Wed
nesday, it was not until 10 o clock Thursday that
we broke up camp at Guilford Station. A march
of six or eight miles brought us to Edward s
Ferry, on the Potomac. Two o clock we stood
on the shores of Maryland. Not one single regret
pained our hearts at parting with Virginia, and
we shall be glad never again to set foot on her
disloyal soil.
While the troops were crossing, rode up the
river to Ball s Bluff , the scene of that wicked
blunder in which the gallant California Senator
O
(Colonel Baker) and nine hundred men were sac
rificed to incompetency or treason. Passing
through Poolsville, the Eleventh bivouacked at
night near the little town of Barnesville.
Friday morning the troops were again on the
march, moving toward Frederick City. The
roads were in the worst possible condition, soft
and slippery. But there were many points of spe-
220 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
cial interest that helped, in no small degree, to
vary the weariness of the way. First was the
Sugar Loaf Mountain, whose graceful peak was
in full sight almost from the moment of leaving
Guilford Station. It must be said, however, that
it had a grander view in the distance than when
we came to climb up its steep rocky sides. After
a march of two or three miles along the bank of
Monocacy Creek, the troops began the ascent of
the Ivittoctan Mountain. Behind us was the
Sugar Loaf and the country through which we
had passed. In front were the South Mountain
range, and the gap at Harper s Ferry, where the
waters of the Potomac and the Shenandoah meet
and mingle into one. At our feet lay Pleasant
Valley, intersected by fields of ripening grain
and green, waving corn, looking in the distance
like a vast garden. The brigade halted last
night outside the village of Jefferson. In com
pany with Chaplain Howell, of the Ninetieth,
found lodgings in the town, where we are now
waiting the coming of the troops.
SATURDAY EVENING. It was eight o clock this
morning before Baxter s Brigade, in rear of the
Division, left Jefferson. The route was up the
valley toward Middletown. Passing through the
village, we are now in camp in sight of Mount
Tabor Church, at the foot of South Mountain,
near where the Eleventh marched up to take
part in the engagement of 14th September last.
FIRST CORPS AT EMMETTSBURG. 221
MONDAY, June 20. There was such a falling
oft of startling rumors yesterday, and everything
wore an aspect so peaceful and Sabbath-like,
that every one imagined, holding as we did all the
passes of South Mountain, and guarding all the
avenues leading to Baltimore and Washington,
that the army might rest some days in Pleasant
Valley. But the call of the bugle dispelled the
delusion; and at the hour we had appointed to
hold religious services, the Eleventh marched
to Frederick. The distance was only com
pleted with the last ray of daylight; and yet so
charming was the weather, and in such fine
spirits were the troops, that the eight miles were
made with scarcely more apparent fatigue than
has often been seen in a simple change of
camp.
At four o clock this morning the column was
again in motion, moving toward Emmettsburg.
Everywhere along the route the troops were
greeted with demonstrations of delight. It was
so new to us, who had always been received with
frowns, or a look of contempt, or in sullen silence,
to be met with smiles of welcome, that the en
thusiasm of the citizen was communicated to the
soldier, and for miles a prolonged cheer rose
from the moving ranks. Late in the afternoon,
the First Corps entered Emmettsburg. One week
ago, the finest half of the town was destroyed
by fire, certainly the work of an incendiary
19*
222 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
but whether a rebel spy, or a home rebel sympa
thizer, does not yet appear.
Two miles from town we passed the Catholic
College of Mount St. Mary, a large, imposing
stone edifice, at the foot of the Blue Ridge, and
surrounded by everything in nature to make it
attractive. Taking advantage of a moment s
halt, a party of three or four rode through the
capacious gateway, and up to the main entrance
of the building. We were cordially received by
the president, and escorted through the several
parts of the college. With characteristic hospi
tality, a collation was in preparation for us, but
the column had moved on, and we were obliged
to decline. Immediately in the town are the
buildings and extensive grounds of the Sisterhood
of St. Joseph, the headquarters of the Sisters of
Charity in the United States. The regiment is
now T bivouacked a short distance to the west of
Emmettsburg, on the road leading to Cash town.
VII.
CHAPTER I.
HOOKER DISPLACED BY MEADE.
WHILE the Army of the Potomac was resting
under the shadow of South Mountain, on the
28th of June, the supreme command of its forces
passed from General Hooker into the hands of
General George G. Meade.
Those were days when official jealousies and
personal animosities home-bred traitors great
ly interfered with the efficiency of the army.
There had never been anything but bad blood
between Hooker and General Halleck. " If the
general-iu-chief had been in the rebel interest,"
said Hooker, " it would have been impossible for
him to have added to the embarrassment he
caused me, from the moment I took command
of the Potomac Army."
A garrison of ten thousand men had been
placed at Harper s Ferry. There was nothing
for them to do; they covered no ford of the river,
nor were they of the slightest defense to the
Cumberland Valley. Having sent the First,
( 223 )
224 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Third, and Eleventh Corps to Middletown, on
the flank of Lee, Hooker proposed, with the
Twelfth Corps and the force at Harper s Ferry,
to fall upon the rebel rear, destroy the bridges
Lee might have laid across the Potomac, and in
tercept the commerce Ewell had established in
grain, horses, and cattle, which he was sending
into Virginia in large amounts. But Halleck
refused to allow the withdrawal of those troops,
and General Hooker asked to be relieved ; de
claring that he would rather go into the ranks
as a soldier, than to stand at the head of the
army and be thwarted at a time when it was
necessary for every man to be used for the safety
of the country and the destruction of the rebels.
On the morning of June 30th, leaving our bi
vouac near Emmettsburg, and tiling out into the
road to Gettysburg, the First Corps crossed from
Maryland into Pennsylvania, the Eleventh Regi
ment halting near the house of James Wolf red.
Two miles from Emmettsburg, an old tree, grow
ing in a fence corner, was pointed out as marking
the State line. As the three Pennsylvania regi
ments of the Second Brigade passed that bound
ary, a new class of emotions was awakened in
every heart, that could only find expression in
the hearty cheers there given for the good old
State. *
The order announcing the change of com
mander was here read to the troops. Cut off from
IMPRESSION UPON THE ARMY. 225
all sources of information, the movements of the
rebels only came to us in vague and unreliable
rumors. Xow the reports were more explicit.
Lee had indeed penetrated far into the interior
of Pennsylvania. Carlisle and York were already
in possession of his forces, and a large body was
marching against Harrisburg. It was a perilous
adventure, in such a moment as that, when every
man felt the impending crisis, to remove from
the command one who knew so well not only
the qualities of his own army, but the designs
and purposes of the enemy, and supersede him
by another who had all that to learn.
Unaccounted for, and to them unaccountable,
the removal of General Hooker was accepted by
the rank and file as the expression of doubt and
uncertainty, in the high places of government,
as to the issue before us ; and with an army less
patriotic or less intelligent, the effect would have
been full of disaster. But there comes an hour,
in the experience of every true soldier, when he
feels that victory depends not so much upon the
commander as on himself on his own fidelity
to duty. Such an hour came to the Army of the
Potomac, and each man was nerved for the
work before him.
The right wing of the army, consisting of the
First and Eleventh Corps, under command of
General Reynolds, continued its leisurely move
ment toward Gettysburg. There was nothing
226 STORY OF THE EEGIMENT.
in the clear blue sky of that first morning in
July to indicate what the day would bring forth.
If anything could suggest peaceful thoughts to
armed men, it was the country through which
we were passing, so like a paradise it seemed to
the forsaken regions south of the Potomac, al
most every acre of which had been furrowed by
battle, or trenched for the burial of the dead.
With what hearty State pride each one beheld
the lofty mountains the broad plains the
flowering valleys of Pennsylvania. Xo wonder
the Southern soldier, remembering to what he
must return, was loathe to leave those fair fields.
While General Reynolds was approaching the
town, Hill s Corps, of the rebel army, was mov
ing in the same direction from Chambersburg,
and Early s and Swell s Corps from Carlisle and
York. Buford s cavalry occupied Gettysburg
the last day of June, and on the first of the new
month, in a reconnoissance out on the Chambers-
burg pike, encountered Heath s Division of the
rebel advance.
Robinson s Division was three miles to the rear
when the first artillery report broke the stillness
of the morning air, and rolled away in echoes
among the surrounding hills. How that first
gun the invariable prelude to battle always
startles the nerves, and sends the heart on a
double-quick motion! But as cannon answers
to cannon, the nerves become accustomed to the
ENEMY IN FRONT OF GETTYSBURG. 227
unusual sound, and the heart comes back again
to its steady beat.
It was not known that a considerable force of
the enemy was in our immediate vicinity; and
the party in front of the cavalry was regarded as
an advance guard, sent forward to watch the
movements of the Federal commander. Pres
ently long lines of infantry began to develop
themselves, and Buford sent word that the
enemy was in heavy force. Wadsworth s Divi
sion of the First Corps was in the advance, then
came Donbleday, and last Robinson. Placing
himself at the head of Wadsworth s column,
General Reynolds pushed rapidly forward, mov
ing across the fields to the left of the Emmetts-
burg road and taking position on Seminary
Ridge, half a mile west of Gettysburg.
There were other eyes than those of General
Reynolds that saw the advantages of that com
manding ridge. Scarcely had our troops reached
the ground, when Heath s Division, having driven
back the cavalry, turned upon AVadsworth, and
in desperate charges vainly endeavored to drive
him from the ridge. In the first volley from
the rebel line General Reynolds fell mortally
wounded, dying in the arms of his attendants
before he could be removed from the field.
The firing of the first gun in front closed up
the straggling ranks of the rear division. Aid-
de-camps were seen riding along the column,
*2 28 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
delivering orders to the several commanders,
and urging* forward the troops.
"Step out lively, men," said one. General
Reynolds has heen wounded, and every man is
needed at the front."
Those were troops not to be disheartened by
disaster, and as they neared the battle-field, a
firmer and a steadier step struck the ground.
Nobly did the First Division maintain its lines,
inflicting heavy loss upon the rebels, and before
its supports came up capturing General Archer
and his entire brigade. The death of General
Reynolds placed General Doubleday in com
mand of the First Corps and General Howard
in command of the right wing of the army.
Strengthening Wadsworth s line with the Third
Division, Robinson s Division was held in reserve
behind Seminary Ridge. While the troops of
the First Corps were thus disposed, the Eleventh
Corps marched through the town and formed on
the right. The outlines of the battle of Gettys
burg at this moment began to be seen. Hill was
in front of the First Corps with thirty thousand
men, and Ewell was approaching our right flank
with thirty thousand more.
"Tell Doubleday to fight on the left, and I
will hold on to the right," said General Howard
to Buford s adjutant, who rode up to tell him of
the advance of Ewell.
Robinson was getting into position near the
Seminary when Doubleday observed a dangerous
BATTLE OF FIRST OF JULY. 229
gap between himself and Howard. The Eleventh
Pennsylvania and the Ninety-seventh New York
were at once pushed forward some distance be
yond the railroad embankment to occupy the
space. A little later, the rest of the Second
Brigade was sent forward, and at last the whole
division. Not a single regiment remained in re
serve, and from left to right the line was envel
oped in fire and smoke.
The enemy was striking his heaviest blows on
the left, and changing front, Robinson took posi
tion on a ridge running parallel with Seminary
Ridge, four or five hundred yards further west.
It was now noon, and the battle grew fiercer with
every hour. Gallantly the rebels came against
our front, and as gallantly were they driven
back.
"We are Pennsylvanians, and have come here
to stay," was the shout that followed every re
pulse of the enemy.
There seemed to be no end to those Southern
ranks, as there was no exhausting the persistent
courage with which they continued the attack.
Quick as one line was swept away another and a
stronger line took its place. Baxter had just
repulsed one of the enemy s severest assaults,
when a North Carolina brigade veered round for
O
a charge on our right fiank. The Ninetieth Penn
sylvania and the Twelfth Massachusetts met the
North Carolinians with a musketry fire that
20
230 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
doubled up their ranks and sent them streaming
back toward the left in defenseless confusion. It
was our time to charge; and rushing upon those
broken ranks with the spirit of men who had
everything at stake, the Eleventh Pennsylvania
and .Ninety-seventh New York brought back
with them four hundred prisoners, and the flag
of the Twenty-third North Carolina Regiment.
The record of one hour on that ridge is the
record of the three hours the troops maintained
their position. Xow repelling the fierce attacks
of a greatly superior force in front; now chang
ing to the right and then again to the left ; and
when the enemy s ranks were broken, charging
upon him, capturing his colors and his men.
Shot and shell were every moment lessening the
number. But the brave fellows were fighting on
their native soil ; they had come there to stay, and
closing up the gaps, they fought on. AVhen the
ammunition began to fail, wounded men, carried
from the field, passed their cartridge-boxes to
the front. More than one volley that shattered
through those rebel lines was supplied from the
unexpended powder and ball taken from the per
sons of dead comrades.
Toward three o clock the First Brigade moved
to the front. The battle was now raging with
greater fury than ever, and the Eleventh was
hurried to the railroad embankment, a short dis
tance to the left, to support Stewart s Battery.
BATTLE OF FIRST OF JULY. 231
The enemy, coming from the direction of Cham-
bersburg, was gradually extending his line on
the left so as nearly to touch the Emmettsburg
pike. For six hours the First Corps, numbering
in all only eight thousand men, had contended
with Hill s Corps, full thirty thousand strong.
A new danger now threatened them. The
Eleventh Corps, that for some time gallantly
held its own, suddenly broke, precipitating
E well s Corps upon our right flank. Neither
courage nor valor could avail against such fearful
odds. Overwhelmed in front, and sorely pressed
on either flank, the Union lines gave way in de
feat and retreated through Gettysburg to Cem
etery Hill.
Early in the day the surgeons had taken pos
session of the Lutheran Church, near the center
of the town, for Division Hospital. Basement
and auditory, chancel and choir, the yard in
front, and the yard in rear, were soon crowded
with the brave men of the Second Division,
wounded and dying. We were going in and out
among these, when the broken aud flying bat
talions of the Eleventh Corps came streaming in
from the right. It was a sight never to be for
gotten. Crowding through the streets, and up
the alleys, and over fences in utter ignorance of
whither they were going, every moment increased
the confusion and dismay. To add to the terrors
of the hour, the enemy gained possession of the
232 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
town, and firing rapidly into our retreating ranks,
shot and shell mingled their horrid sounds with
the groans of the dying thus stricken down.
But that retreat was not all confusion. The
same nohle corps that had so successfully main
tained its ground on the left, when resistance
was no longer possible, fell back in solid phalanx.
And though
" Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them.
Volley d and thunder d,"
shoulder to shoulder they marched, rank after
rank halting to fire upon the advancing foe, and
then closing up again with daring coolness.
In marching through Gettysburg to his posi
tion on the right, General Howard placed Stein-
wehr s Division of the Eleventh Corps in reserve
on Cemetery Hill. Twenty-four guns in position,
with a strong infantry support, was not only a
grateful covering for our retreating forces, behind
which they could reform their broken lines, but
also arrested the further pursuit of the victo
rious Southerner, and saved the Federal army
from utter ruin.
REBELS QUARTERED AT GETTYSBURG. 233
CHAPTER II.
ARMIES CONCENTRATED AT GETTYSBURG.
DEFEATED on our own soil, and held in the
town a prisoner, never did the cloud that hung
over the nation seem so dark and threatening as
at the close of that first day of July.
Generals Longstreet, Ewell, and Hill were quar
tered in the village, indicating that the entire
rebel force was concentrated at Gettysburg. But
there was no one to tell us of the Union army,
whether its other corps were near enough to
come to the support of the First and the Eleventh
holding Cemetery Hill. Baltimore and Wash
ington were within two days march ; and for
anything that we could learn, there was nothing
to prevent the entire accomplishment of the bold
plan of invasion marked out by the Southern
leader.
Elated with the success of the first day, the
enemy in town passed the night in riot and feast
ing. But with the morning of the 2d of July,
that dawned as brightly as though no disaster
had befallen the cause of Liberty and Humanity,
came preparations for renewing the conflict.
Two lines of battle were formed in the streets,
20*
234 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
and a force of pioneers removed all the fences
and whatever else obstructed an easy access from
one side of the town to the other. If we could
have known that throughout the night one
corps after another had been arriving until the
line of the Federal army stretched from Round
Top on the left to Gulp s Hill on the right, we
would have accepted that bright morning as the
harbinger of final success.
General Meade was laying out a battle line
along the banks of Pipe Creek, ten miles nearer
to Baltimore, where he intended to concentrate
his army and await the approach of General Lee.
But the first gun fired in front of Gettysburg de
cided the battle-field. The Third and Twelfth
Corps arrived on the evening of July 1st ; the
Second and Fifth between midnight and day
light of July 2d, and the Sixth Corps, after a
march of thirty miles, between ten o clock and
noon.
" Your troops occupy a strong position at the
upper end of the town, on the road leading to
Baltimore," said a Confederate captain, who
came into the hospital. "But I m sure they
won t be there long."
No word that a single man had been added to
the brave few that bore the brunt of yesterday s
fight, came to our ears; and when the bat
tle commenced, shortly after noon of Thursday,
it need not be concealed that there were painful
BATTLE OF SECOND OF JULY. 235
fears of the issue. Hour after hour passed slowly
away without a moment s lull in the roar of ar
tillery and the rattle of small arms. Not until
the darkness of night closed in between the two
armies did the noise of battle cease.
The fiercest fighting was on the rebel right, in
the vicinity of Round Top. Heavy columns of
Confederate troops were seen moving rapidty in
that direction, and long lines of ambulances had
been passing to and from their hospitals all after
noon. The surgeons of the Eleventh, as indeed
nearly every surgeon belonging to the Second
Division, with all the medical stores, fell into the
hands of the rebels when they occupied the town.
We could not but think of our wounded, thus
unprovided for. But the army, did it hold its
position throughout the fight, or were its ranks
broken and scattered, was the thought that en
grossed every other.
Later in the evening we inquired of an officer
gathering up the stragglers that were hanging
about the hospital, how the battle had gone. He
was not at all inclined to be communicative, and
only in answer to a direct question did he say
that we still held our lines unbroken.
There was a faint dawning of hope. We knew
that nothing less than the entire Potomac Army
could resist such an attack as had been made
during the day by the combined Southern forces.
And though the contest was still in doubt, it was
236 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
encouraging to think that our men were not con
tending against the fearful odds of the first day s
battle.
Daylight of Friday, July 3d, the fighting that
had ceased with the darkness of the night before,
was renewed on the right of the line. During
the previous evening, while the enemy was
making his attack near Round Top, and the
right had been weakened to strengthen the left,
Early s forces broke through the lines, and took
possession of a part of our defenses.
The Federal battle-line in its shape resembled
a horseshoe. It was the inner circle, of which
the rebel line was the outer circle, giving to
General Meade immensely the advantage of
position, in the facility with which reinforce
ments could be sent from one part of the field
to the other. The threatened and broken risrht
O
was now reinforced, and after a stubborn resist
ance, maintained from dawn until eight o clock,
the rebel troops, that shouted aloud over the suc
cess of Thursday night, with scarcely more than
half their number left, fell back to their original
line.
Then the firing ceased, and for hours there
was an ominous quiet. It was not the quiet of
inaction, but like that which precedes the storm.
It was beyond human endurance that such fight
ing as had characterized the last two days could
continue longer. And there was a changing of
BATTLE OF THIRD OF JULY. 237
troops and a moving of artillery that indicated
preparations for the final assault.
The enemy was boastful as ever. Our taci
turn friend of the clay before, accompanied by
one or two others, came again into the hospital.
They had been making observations from the
church steeple, and the prospect of success made
him more talkative.
" Everything, " said he, "is going just as we
wanted it. Longstreet has succeeded in reaching
a position for which he was manoeuvring all yes
terday."
It was one o clock before the silence that had
lasted from the forenoon was in the least dis
turbed; and then it seemed as though ten thou
sand furies were let loose at once. Shells of all
sizes and shapes went howling over the town
like demons escaped from perdition, tainting the
very air with sulphurous smoke and smell.
On the right and on the left, the enemy had
vainly endeavored to pierce our lines. This at
tack in the center a point upon which he had
concentrated one hundred and fifty guns was
the last and most furious of all.
"If we cannot drive them from that hill we are
gone," said a rebel officer.
From the spire of our church hospital we
watched those rebel lines moving from the direc
tion of Seminary Ridge to the attack of Ceme
tery Hill. In splendid order did they come,
238 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
three columns deep, with every flag unfurled and
flying in the breeze. For some minutes not a
shot had been fired from the Cemetery, and the
daring Southerners, counting largely on the
effects of the terrific cannonade, marched with
quick step across the several intervening fields.
As they advanced nearer our lines, the pro
longed shout was heard so different from our
own distinct cheer that ever presaged a rebel
charge. But a sheet of flame ran along Ceme
tery Hill, and everything was hid from sight by
dust and smoke.
It was a fearful afternoon. The wounded men
lying in the yard, and able to help themselves,
crawled into the house. It seemed safer there,
because less distinctly did the unearthly sounds
that filled the air strike upon the ear. The rebel
troops in line of battle in the streets, crouched
closer to the earth, and for six hours we waited
as men might be supposed to wait the striking
of the knell of time.
Toward evening, when the fury of the battle
had spent itself, there was evident uneasiness
among the Confederates. Xo shouts of victory
ran along their lines; there were no congratula
tions among officers and men, so natural if suc
cess had crowned their efforts.
Details of men were employed in loading into
wagons the spoils of the first day s fight. The
few of their wounded brought into the Second
DAWN OF JULY FOURTH. 239
Division Hospital were quietly removed, and by
nightfall, scarcely a Southerner was to be seen,
not even the paroling officer, who for two days
had been busy taking the name and rank of
each prisoner.
There was a complacent smile on the face of
every Federal soldier; and when one ventured
the belief that Lee was preparing to fall back, a
brave Michigan volunteer, whose right arm had
been amputated near the shoulder, held up the
other, as he said:
" This is all I have now, doctor, but for a vic
tory here, I would give this one, too!"
The signs of uneasiness so apparent early in
the evening, increased with each hour of the
night. Intense interest in the passing events
drove away every feeling of weariness; and from
a window that overlooked the street there were
anxious witnesses of all that occurred. Xow a
passing wagon train, now a squadron of cavalry,
and again the steady tramp of infantry, arrested
the attention. Xor did we fail to observe that
all these were moving in the same direction not
toward our lines but from them.
A little after the dawn of July 4th, a small
party of Confederate cavalry rode rapidly through
the street, hurrying up, in an excited manner,
some lagging footmen. Scarcely had they passed
when the sharp report of a rifle was heard, fol
lowed by another and another in quick succes-
240 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
sion. Looking in the direction from whence the
firing came, a good strong line of Federal skirm
ishers was seen advancing boldly through the
street.
One clear, shrill cheer was given, which, quick
as thought, was repeated by a hundred voices.
Instantly houses that had been closed for three
days and looked deserted, were thrown open,
and doors and windows crowded with faces beam
ing with hope and joy. Many of the wounded
in hospital crawled to the doors as best they
could, and though in some instances only in fee
ble strains, welcomed the morning with shouts
of victory.
CHAPTER III.
GETTYSBURG UNDER REBEL RULE.
DURING the three days that the rebels held pos
session of Gettysburg, for representatives of South
ern chivalry they displayed the grossest ruffian
ism. Stores were broken open and pillaged of
their contents, and private cellars robbed to re
plenish their knapsacks. They came into the
hospital, taking from the wounded men shoes or
caps, or whatever article of clothing suited their
A RAMPANT QUARTERMASTER. 241
fancy. Two soldiers fought over a sword taken
from the side of a captain too badly wounded to
offer resistance, and the dispute was only settled
by the interference of an officer who, happening
in at the moment, appropriated the coveted wea
pon to his own use.
The quartermaster of an Alabama brigade
made himself especially conspicuous on the
streets for loud talking and boisterous threats of
firing the town, and making of Gettysburg a
second Fredericksburg. On the night of the 3d
of July, he invited himself to lodge in the house
of one of the citizens. True to the instincts of
genuine Pennsylvania hospitality, in the general
rejoicings of the following morning, the host did
not forget his guest Two armed Union soldiers
were shown into his room, and a few minutes
after, the quartermaster was seen on an involun
tary march up street, with a captor on either
flank.
It had often been a question with those of us
who had never seen them put to the test, whether
the women of the Xorth were as earnest sympa
thizers in the triumph of their cause as those we
had met in the South. At Culpeper, and War-
renton, and Fredericksburg, the devoted atten
tion of the Southern women to their sick and
wounded was marked and apparent. It was
something more than the natural expression of
kindness that everywhere dwells in woman s
21
242 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
heart; and seemed to us to come from sympathy
for the cause, as well as for the sufferers in that
cause.
But no thin sf we had ever seen could exceed
O
the devoted attention of a few noble women of
Gettysburg. From that first dreadful day to the
last, they were angels of mercy, always coming
at the auspicious moment; braving alike the
bullets that were flying through the streets, and
the shells that were bursting overhead, and the
leering look and coarse remark of an exultant
foe, to carry comfort and succor to the wounded
and the dying.
Fears were entertained that the rebels might
turn their guns against the town, and at an early
hour on the morning of July 4th, all the wounded
were removed three miles to the rear on the
Baltimore pike, where general hospitals, well
provided with medical stores and rations such
as the men greatly needed had been estab
lished.
Leaving the wounded comfortable in their
new quarters, we went in search of the regi
ment, from which we had been separated since
the morning of July 1st. The army was in the
same position it had maintained during the last
two days. Robinson s Division was to the left
of Cemetery Hill, the Eleventh connecting with
Hays s Division of the Second Corps.
When the Eleventh Regiment entered the
FIRST CORPS ON CEMETERY HILL. 243
battle of the first day, on Seminary Ridge, there
were present two hundred and twelve officers
and men. By the time it reached Cemetery Hill
it numbered only seventy-nine. In the last hour
of the first day s fight, General Paul, of the First
Brigade, was severely wounded, as were also
Colonel Leonard, of the Thirteenth Massachu
setts, and Colonel Root, of the Ninety-fourth
Xew York, who successively succeeded General
Paul in command. The Eleventh Regiment was
then transferred from the Second Brigade to the
First Brigade, and Colonel Coulter placed in
command.
Taking position on Cemetery Hill, on the
evening of July 1st, the three Divisions of the
First Corps were arranged with Wadsworth on
the right center, Robinson on the left center,
facing toward the Emmettsburg road, and Dou-
bleday in rear of Robinson. The First Corps
was under command of General Newton, Cap
tain of Engineers in the three months campaign,
and under whose guidance the army of General
Patterson, with a vanguard from the Eleventh
Regiment, made its first crossing of the Potomac.
Longstreet s attack, in the vicinity of Round
Top, was on the afternoon of July 2d. The
lines of the gallant Third Corps, that bravely
met the furious assault, first bending beneath the
heavy pressure thrown against them, at last
broke, and were driven in. Then a part of the
244 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Second Corps, sent to the help of the Third, was
also compelled to fall back. Generals Hancock,
of the Second, and Sickles, of the Third Corps,
were both wounded and carried from the field.
General ^Tewton ordered the Second and Third
Divisions of the First Corps into the gap. The
Third Division, taking the lead, were ordered to
charge the rebels still coming on, and threaten
ing to turn our left flank. A moment later the
order was countermanded. But it was too late.
The cheers had been given, and the ranks were
flying across the field. The four guns lost by
Hancock were recaptured, besides two other
guns and a large number of prisoners taken
from the enemy.
"When my men returned," said Doubleday,
" they apologized to me for not halting at the
command, and I accepted the apology."
Friday morning, Robinson s Division was
massed in rear of Cemetery Hill, ready to push
forward to the support of the Twelfth Corps, then
engaged with the enemy near Gulp s Hill,
the same enemy encountered the previous night
by Wadsworth s Division and the single brigade
of General Green, of the Twelfth Corps.
The troops that were seen from the church
spire, on the afternoon of July 3d, moving up in
such splendid order to the attack of Cemetery
Hill, were the Divisions of Pickett, Wilcox, and
Pettigrew.
PICKETT S REBEL CHARGE. 245
"I anticipate an attack on the Cemetery from
the enemy s forces massed in the town," said
General Meade to Robinson. "Place your
troops so that if our line gives way you can
strike the enemy on the flank."
The division moved out at the moment that
the rebels turned one hundred and fifty guns
upon our position. "Never were troops exposed
to such a fire of shot and shell," said General
Robinson, "and yet the movement was made in
perfect order, and with little loss."
For some minutes our guns had remained
quiet, the cannoneers laying close to the ground,
watching the steady approach of the enemy, and
awaiting the word to send their double charge
of grape and canister into those compact col
umns. At last it came; and the quick discharges
from Captain Ricketts s Battery, and the guns
of the Eleventh Corps, tearing great rents in
Pettigrew s ranks, sent them back a broken and
disorganized mass. Wilcox fared no better.
But Pickett s Division, living through all the
terrible storm, was moving onward with furious
threatening against our left.
Robinson s Division, ordered to the threat
ened point, moved over ground plowed in every
square inch by exploding shells, and taking po
sition on the right of the Second Corps, the
First Brigade met the shock of Pickett s won-
21*
246 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
derful charge, and shared in the last repulse of
the sanguine Southerner.
Ten of the Eleventh Regiment were counted
among the dead that lay on Seminary Ridge and
in front of Cemetery Hill. Sixty were seriously
wounded, and sixty taken prisoners. On the
evacuation of the town by the rebels many of
the latter returned to the regiment; while others,
carried to Richmond, lingered days and weeks
in Libby prison and on Belle Island, to die at
last of disease or starvation.
In every former battle there w-ere to be found
those always ready to evade duty; men who
seemed to have a greater fondness for the wagon
train or the hospital than a place in the ranks.
But there were no stragglers at Gettysburg. "No
soldiers ever fought better, or inflicted severer
blows upon the enemy."* "2Tot a single case of
faltering came to my notice, "f
As illustrating the spirit that ruled the hour,
was a private in Co. K, who had been with the
Eleventh ever since its organization. Mentally
detective to a slight degree, Lacock was never
intrusted with a gun; but strong as an ox, he
was placed among the pioneers, and armed with
a spade. Catching the enthusiasm of the men
around him, with his spade on his shoulder, John
* Gen. Robinson s Report,
f Col. Coulters Report.
A BOLD PIONEER. 247
bravely marched with the regiment, not only in
the thickest of the first day s fight, but during
the second and the third day. Passing un
harmed through all, it deserves to be told that
the sturdy fellow held fast to his spade.
In Pickett s charge, two of his three brigade
commanders were killed, and the other seriously
wounded. Fourteen field officers were killed,
and only one out of the whole number escaped
unhurt. Two-thirds of his men were killed,
wounded, and captured, and of the thirteen
standards that his regiments carried on that
afternoon, only two did not fall into our hands.
CHAPTER IV.
THE RETREAT AND THE PURSUIT.
EMMETTSBURG, July 6. Yesterday morning
the pickets sent in word that the rifle-pits and
breast-works in front had been abandoned during
the night, and that the rebels were in full re
treat. The entire army was at once put in mo
tion. AVe are bivouacked on Wolfred s farm,
near our resting-place of last Tuesday, thus far
on the way in pursuit of the running foe. Xever
248 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
has this army come out of a battle in such high
spirits. Every man is enthusiastic at the hope
of overtaking Lee before he crosses the Poto
mac, and at once and forever finishing up the
rebellion. The Eleventh is under command of
Captain Bierer, of Co. C, the colonel having
been left behind wounded.
Our friends of the Ninety-seventh Xew York
have just received Colonel Wheelock with three
uproarious cheers. The colonel was taken pris
oner during the first day s fight, but escaped
from his captors night before last. He reports
great demoralization throughout the enemy s
ranks, and the road strewed with his wounded
and stragglers. Our cavalry is following close
in the rear. Couch and the Pennsylvania militia
are on the right flank, cutting oiF almost every
possible chance of Lee s escape.
FOOT OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN, July 8. Four
o clock on the morning of the 7th, we left our
bivouac at Emmettsburg, marching briskly along
the Frederick pike. Crossing Kittoctan Mount
ain some time in the afternoon, we turned off
the smooth pike into a narrow country road that
brought us to another, and, as we thought, the
steepest part of the same range of hills. General
Robinson halted the division on the mountain
summit, and after half an hour s rest, massed
the several regiments and read to them the dis
patches from Washington, announcing the sur
render of Yicksburg to Gen. Grant.
BULLETINS OF VICTORY. 249
"Soldiers, the news of yonr glorious victory at
Gettysburg has been telegraphed to the West. I
propose three cheers for Grant and his army, feel
ing assured that while we shout their victories
from this mountain top, they are shouting our
victory along the Mississippi Valley."
Three o clock this morning we were again under
march, and are once more bivouacked at the foot
of South Mountain, in si^ht of Mount Tabor
O
church.
JULY 9. Late last evening, with not more than
an hour s rest after a long and severe march, Ro
binson s Division was ordered to cross South
Mountain, and take position to the right of Turn
er s Gap. General French has destroyed the
enemy s pontoon bridge at "William sport, and it
was thought Lee might make a desperate effort
to secure this pass in order to protect his flank.
In this position, a short distance below the old
Mountain House, we have been resting all day,
while one continuous stream of artillery, infantry,
and cavalry has been passing along the National
pike, in the direction of Hagerstown. Everything
reminds one of last September. Over this same
mountain, and along this same road, and with
much of the same spirit, we were then, as now,
in close pursuit of the rebels. Let us hope for
a more decisive issue.
BENEVOLO, July 10. The division left South
Mountain at six o clock this morning. "Wonder-
250 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
ful indeed are the recuperative powers of the
soldier. Footsore and tired, when the hour for
bivouac comes, if the sky should be overcast,
and rain threaten, he may take time to pitch his
shelter tent; but more frequently, with only a
blanket wrapped around him, he stretches him
self on the ground, to sleep soundly and well.
"Weariness
Can snore upon the flint, where resty sloth
Finds downy pillows hard."
2Text morning the fatigue of the former day
is forgotten, and with spring and elasticity in his
step, he takes his place in the ranks, ready to
move forward at the word of command. So the
few hours of rest enjoyed by our boys yester
day imparted renewed vigor, and when they
started off this morning it was on a quick and
steady march. We passed through Boonsborough
and on toward Hagerstown, following after the
rebels, with whom we have been skirmishing all
day.
Three or four houses and a small, neat church
make up this little town of Benevolo. Our troops
are in line of battle about half a mile to the front,
in expectation of an engagement.
" We had hard work to save our church from
destruction the other day," said a gentleman
living on the adjacent lot. " A party of rebels
determined to tear out the upper corner for the
SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN VANDALS. 251
sake of the money they were told that we always
place under the corner-stone of our churches. I
suppose they would have persevered in their at
tempt had not our cavalry come up so near be
hind them. "
All the vandals are not found in the ranks of
the Southern army. After the battle of Cedar
Mountain a party of Irish soldiers visited a beau
tiful frame church, that graced the north slope of
the hill, and forced out the corner-stone, not for
the money beneath it, but for the bottle of whis
key which they avowed was always sealed up in
the corner-stone of churches.
FUNKSTOWX, July 12. Early this morning, the
enemy disappearing from our front near Bene
volo, the whole of the forces moved forward.
Every day we have been coming nearer to the
main body of the rebel army. Lee is now in line
of battle across Antietam Creek, with his left
resting on Hagerstown, and his right extending
to Downiesville. The different corps of the army
are coming up in quick succession, and going into
position. The First and Sixth Corps are on the
right, the Fifth and Third Corps in the center,
and the Second and Twelfth Corps on the left.
Buford reports that the enemy has a strong posi
tion, which he is fortifying and rendering stronger.
Our troops are in excellent spirits. The hard
rains of the two or three days past have swollen
the Potomac almost to flood-hight, and with
252 STORY OF THE KEGLMENT.
his bridges destroyed, there is every prospect
that the most of Lee s army will fall into our
hands.
The citizens of this village are not a little
alarmed that the two hostile armies should have
met so near their doors, while they look on with
wonder at preparations making here in the rear
for the battle in the front. The three churches
of the place are fitted up for hospitals. Medical
wagons are unpacked, and the amputating tables
set up, and as our battle line is in easy sight on
the other side of Antietara Creek, ambulances to
bring off the wounded are all in readiness to
proceed to the field on the discharge of the first
gun.
When we came to count noses, after leaving
Gettysburg, Dixie, one of our colored servantSj
was missing. He is a boy about sixteen years
old, the former slave of a doctor living in Fau-
quier County, Ya., but always regarded at head
quarters as the personal property of the chaplain.
Dixie was last seen on Seminary Ridge a mo
ment before the troops fell back, and no one could
tell what became of him. He was given up for
lost, when but a little while ago he walked into
the hospital, attired in a full suit of rebel gray,
even to the cap. It is a wonder that some of
the provost guards did not arrest him as a gen
uine u Johnnie," for he looks quite as white as
many we have taken from their ranks, except-
THE LOST FOUND. 253
ing, perhaps, that his hair is a little more inclined
to curl.
This is his story. Lost in the confusion of
the first day s fight, Dixie found himself among
the rebels. "Dey war all too busy a-fightin to
mind a darkie. So I slid down into a deep gully
washed out on de side of a hill by de rain, and
laid quiet till it was nearly dark. Den I come
out and looked around. Heaps ob dead war
lyin dar on de ground, and so many ob de
wounded was cryin for water. I spected if de
rebels catch me wid dem blue clothes on dey would
take me back to Virginny. I seed a dead man
jist t other side ob me wid dese clothes on. I
took dein off de man and slipped into em; den
I went back to my hidin place, and lay till
mornin . Arter awhile, a company came out to
gadder up de wounded and bury de dead. Dey
hollered at me:
"Hallo, darkie, where do you belong:"
"I told dem I b long to an officer in de Second
Virginny, and had lost my reg ment. Byme-by
de firin commenced agin, and I went back and
laid low in de hole."
Knowing the keenness of Dixie s appetite from
an experience running through many months, we
interrupted him in his story to inquire where he
got his rations.
"Dar was plenty ob habersacks laying about
full ob hard tack, and I helped myself."
22
254 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
" How did you know when to come away from
there?"
" I kept near de party dat was buryin de dead.
One evening a captain came an told em to
go to dar reg ment dat de troops was gwine
to leave Gettysburg. I went a little way wid
em, until I seed a chance to go to one side, and
get back to my hole in de ground. ^N~ext mornin
eberybody was gone. Presently some ob our
own men come out dar, and tell me which way
de corps was marchin . I se been gamin a little
on it ebery day since."
I^"EAR WILLIAMSPORT, July 14. After all our
marching and planning, the rebels have eluded
us. "With his army little better than a mob,
General Lee has succeeded in making a safe pas
sage of the Potomac. Where his capture was
regarded with so much certainty, there could not
be anything else than great disappointment at
this unexpected result. Citizens along the route
to this place tell us that if an attack had been
made yesterday thousands of rebels would have
fallen into our hands, as the troops then on this
side of the river were entirely without artillery,
and with but little ammunition. Another of those
mistakes has been made so fatal to the permanent
success of the Potomac Army. Xever were men
more eager to be led forward, and never did an
opportunity, to all appearances, so favorable for
utterly routing Lee present itself. If to that
REBEL ARMY ACROSS THE POTOMAC. 255
council of war, said to have been held night be
fore last, where all the generals present, except
ing Wadsworth (representing the First Corps in
the temporary absence of General Xewton) and
Howard, voted against an attack, General Meade
had invited representatives from the rank and
file of his army, a different result would have
been reached. Xothing now remains but to fol
low the enemy through Virginia, where the ad
vantage of roads, position, and everything else
will be in his favor.
CHAPTER V.
MARCHING THROUGH LOUDON VALLEY.
THE halt of the army at Williamsport, after it
was definitely ascertained that Lee had crossed
the river and was pushing toward Martinsburg,
was only a few hours.
The Federal commander was much in the same
position that McClellan found himself after the
battle of Autietam. The question of pursuing
the enemy through the valley of Virginia was
then thoroughly discussed; and because of the
difficulty of supplying an army with only a single
track railroad from Harper s Ferry to TTinches-
256 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
ter, it was pronounced impracticable. General
Meade therefore determined to adopt the plan of
the previous year, which was to move upon the
enemy s flank through Loudon Valley. Pontoon
bridges were ordered to be thrown across the
Potomac at Berlin, and on the morning of July
15th the entire army was moving toward that
point.
CRAMPTON S G-AP, July 15. Crampton s Gap
is the most southerly pass of the South Mount
ain. Here we are encamped for the night, after
a march from "Williamsport of twenty miles.
Leaving the column still moving onward, and
riding off to the right of Keedysville, we paid a
visit to walnut grove, our camping ground of last
fall, and to the house of Mr. Rowe. There were
mutual congratulations over the victory of Get
tysburg, and mutual regrets that Lee should have
escaped. A large force of the enemy marched
down the river and crossed at Shephardstown.
They gave a pitiable account of the condition of
the rebel army; and in such haste were they to
have the Potomac between themselves and the
Yankees, that they did not even stop to plunder
a thing they dearly love to do, and in which
they are completely versed.
On our way back to the regiment we passed
over the right of Antietam battle-field. Prolific
nature and industrious man have greatly changed
the face of the ground during the past few
OVER THE BATTLE-FIELD OF ANTIETAM. 257
mouths. Tall grass waves over spots once worn
bare by the friction of cannon wheels, or the
tread of shifting infantry. The broken fences
have been set up in the old lines; w T hile the
Dunkard church around whose doors was the
fiercest fighting between Hooker s Corps and
Stonewall Jackson, and whose walls were pierced
with many shells still bearing the scars of battle
upon it, has been refitted, and resounds again
with prayer and praise.
During the fiercest fighting of September 17th,
near this spot, a soldier, mortally wounded, was
carried by his companions. They laid him at
the foot of a tree, and were vainly endeavoring
to stop the blood flowing from a gaping wound.
" It s all of no use," said he. " I am dying."
With some effort he drew from his pocket a Bible,
and handing it to the nearest friend, said: "Give
this to my wife. Tell her that I died trusting in
Christ as my Saviour; and that this book has
been to me a comfort and solace in all the trials
of soldier-life. To my children I send a father s
last blessing." Still addressing his friend, he
added, " Now pray with me." And there, on
the battle-field, amid bursting shell and flying
shot, those men knelt down, and commended
their companion to the care of God. Afterward
he said, " Sing." There was a moment s pause,
as though one was waiting for the other, when
the dying man commenced, faintly
22*
258 STORY OF TI1E REGIMENT.
"Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly."
But before the verse was ended the pulse had
ceased to beat, and the tongue of the singer was
silent in death. Did the victorious general, fall
ing at the head of his charging column, die more
heroically than this nameless and unknown sol
dier ? Xo, not unknown! To-night he marches
the streets of the Xew Jerusalem, the loved
companion of its blessed inhabitants.
A sad fatality has attended the Hoffman fam
ily, whose house was occupied as brigade hospi
tal during the battle. Returning to their home
after the last of the wounded were removed, in
a few days a malignant fever carried off one and
another, until of father, mother, two daughters,
and an equal number of sons, not one remains.
WATERFORD, YA., July 18. For the third time
we crossed the Potomac, and are again in Vir
ginia. The pontoon bridges were laid at Berlin
last night, and the crossing commenced early
this morning. There is no enthusiasm among
the men; nor will they be persuaded that we
shall be more successful in the pursuit of Lee
south of the Potomac than we were north of it.
The district surrounding AVaterford is the most
loyal of Virginia. Captain Steel s Rangers, a
body of troops that often measure arms with
Moseby s guerrillas, are from this neighborhood.
The gallant captain and a part of his men arrived
AN UNAMIABLE LADY. 259
in town to-night, to the evident gratification of
the citizens.
HAMILTON,, July 19. We marched eight miles
to-day from Water-ford to Hamilton. There is
an air of quiet repose about these little towns,
nestled in this verdant valley, quite refreshing.
Why a town should be built just in the particu
lar locality you find it, would be hard to tell.
But the suddenness with which you come upon
them, and the unexpected places in which they
are to be found, adds all the more to their beauty
and attractiveness. Another thing is also to be
observed that every mile we make southward
marks a change in the sentiments of the people.
Loyalty to the Government increases as you
move toward the Potomac, and decreases as you
recede from it. The hospital steward of the
Ninetieth New York asked permission of the
lady of a house, near where we halted, to bring
into her room, until the ambulances came up, a
sick man, who gave out on the march.
"No," was the curt reply. " Sick or well, no
Yankee shall come into my house with my con
sent."
The sick man was taken in and made comfort
able, without the consent of the amiable madam.
MIDDLEBURG, July 20. As early as four o clock
this A. M. the Eleventh Regiment, leading the
First Corps, was moving in the direction of Alid-
dleburg, sixteen miles distant from Hamilton.
260 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
The march was drawn out until late in the after
noon.
One thing that has greatly relieved our journeys
through this part of Virginia, is the abundance
of good water. Loudon Valley is the great
highway to the ocean for all the streams rising
in the Blue Ridge. Clear running water met us
all day long at every step, and in one instance
offered no little impediment to our progress.
A large stream, that flows into the Potomac,
under the domestic name of Goose Creek, where
the main road to Middleburg crosses it was once
spanned by a substantial stone bridge. But our
friends from Richmond, after they themselves
had made a safe passage, turned round and de
stroyed it. Xothing was left for us but to ford
Goose Creek, as we had more than once forded
other creeks. With the water three and a half
feet deep, the crossing was not made without the
occurrence of many ludicrous scenes. Some of
the men were content to remove only shoes and
stockings ; others doffed coat and breeches ; while
many more, discarding every particle of Uncle
Sam s uniform, excepting the cap, undertook the
transit in the uniform provided by nature. One
missed his footing and became an involuntary
immersionist. Another let fall the bundle of
clothes he seemed most anxious to keep dry; or,
stepping into a treacherous hole, for a moment
man and bundle both disappeared. Escaping all
THE FORDING OF GOOSE CREEK. 261
the perils by water, the first step up the slippery
bank was often a false step, letting down the too
confident soldier into a bed of soft mud, or slid
ing him back into the stream. All these mis
haps were signals for expressions more witty
than polite; and for bursts of laughter more
vociferous than musical.
Our present encampment is in sight of the
handsome town of Middleburg. The citizens of
the place showed their utter contempt for us
by retiring to their houses and closing every
door and window. Xot a white person was to be
seen, and but for the negroes that met us on the
street corners, we might have thought the town
uninhabited.
Another reason for the unusual quiet of Mid
dleburg has just been discovered. Between one
and two hundred rebel wounded from the field
of Gettysburg are quartered in the town, and it
was very desirable that they should remain un
discovered by the prying and curious Yankees.
Liberal supplies of stores, stolen from Maryland
and Pennsylvania, were also left for their sub
sistence. General Xewton has very properly
ordered this supply to be considerably lessened.
It may be gratifying to some loyal Pennsylvania
farmer to know that a part of his smoked hams,
recaptured from the rebels, is now filling the
haversacks of Pennsylvania soldiers.
JULY 23. Just as we had ceased to wonder at
262 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
our long delay in one place in the pursuit of Lee,
the bugle sounded the assembly, and at seven
o clock yesterday evening the march was re
sumed, Robinson s Division in rear of the corps,
and the Eleventh in rear of the division. We
had not proceeded more than a mile or two be
fore it was known that guerrillas were following
after our wagon train, and fears were entertained
of an attack. The regiment halted along the
road-side until the wagons passed, when we fell
in behind them, thus marching until daylight
this morning. After a rest of three hours at
White Plains, the column moved on to Warren-
ton, where we are now in camp, with the pros
pect of remaining for some days. Our friends
the Fosters are still at the Plains. But a
shadow has fallen upon the hearth-stone. The
son, a lieutenant in Major Moseby s Partisan
Rangers (so they speak of Moseby and his men),
is now a prisoner in Washington, confined in the
Old Capitol.
BEALTOX STATION, July 26. All our pleasant
imaginings of a quiet time at Warrenton were
suddenly dispelled yesterday morning by orders
to march. "What does ail this mean ?" "Where
are we going?" were questions asked in no
amiable mood. "Our supplies have been cut off
at Catlett s Station, said one. "Bragg has re
inforced Lee, and the rebels are coming down
the Manassas Gap Railroad to Bull Run, said
CAMP AT BEALTON STATION. 263
another. Toward noon we reached Warrenton
Junction, to find that the supplies were not cut
off, and that Lee had no intention of coming to
Bull Run. It was satisfactorily explained that
we had moved to the railroad junction, to be
nearer our base of supplies. Wagons were again
unpacked, tents pitched, and arrangements made
for a long stay at Warrenton Junction. ]S"ear
sundown, when we were listening for the bugle
to sound retreat, it sounded to march. "Where
now?" all were ready to ask. "It is only a
change of camp to get a better supply of water."
But an order assigning the Eleventh Regiment
as rear- guard of the wagon train, was the end of
all further speculation. A little after midnight
we bivouacked at Bealton Station, where we are
awaiting further orders.
JULY 26, Evening. The only move we have
made to-day was to join the rest of the brigade,
from which we were separated last night by the
wagon train. With our tents pitched, we find
ourselves comfortably located, and will accept
Bealton Station as the resting-place we have
been looking for since we left Warrenton.
MONDAY, July 27. A train of cars came from
Alexandria, loaded with material for building
the bridge at Rappahannock Station. One bri
gade of our division is now at the river, three
miles distant. It seems to be the purpose to
cross at the earliest practicable moment. But
264 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
that cannot be for several days to come. Our
men are sadly in want of clothing, and many of
the troops that have joined us since the last battle
are unarmed. All these wants must be supplied
before we can advance.
FRIDAY, July 31. During the last four days
Bealton Station has grown into quite a business
center. Half a dozen trains arrive daily, loaded
with all kinds of army supplies. ^N"ew clothing
and equipments have been issued, and the rest
enjoyed since Sabbath has had an improving
effect upon the men.
While the First Corps was marching through
Loudon Valley, in the rear and on the flank of
the army, the other corps had been pushing rap
idly forward toward Manassas Gap, in the hope
of intercepting Lee at Front Royal. The Third
Corps reached the Gap on the 23d of July, the
day of our halt at Middleburg. We were then
in advance of the rebels, and it w r as expected
that the error committed at Williamsport would
be atoned for at Manassas Gap. But instead of
attacking with his usual earnestness, General
French wasted a w T hole day in reconnoiteriug
the position. When the Gap was at last forced,
it was only to find that he had been baffled by a
small rear-guard, General Lee, in the mean time,
making good his escape. Scouts report that the
Southern army is now in position near Culpeper,
while our own lines stretch along the north bank
FIGHT AT BRANDY STATION. 265
of the Rappahannock, from Kelly s Ford on the
left to Sulphur Springs on the right. A large
cavalry force, under command of General Buford,
is collecting here, which looks as if the pursuit
of Lee was still to be kept up.
SATURDAY, August 1. Across the Eappahan-
nock. At five o clock this morning we left
Bealton Station and marched to the river. As
soon as the pontoon bridges were laid, the cav
alry crossed in force, and afterward Robinson s
Division of infantry. The Eleventh was at once
placed in position on the knoll next to the river,
and every man set to work throwing up intrench-
ments. The cavalry continued the march toward
Culpeper, in which direction there has been
severe fighting all afternoon, but with what
result we cannot tell.
SUNDAY, August 2. The warmest day of the
season; not a breath of air stirring; not a tree to
protect the men from the scorching rays of the
sun. All work on the intrenchments suspended
because of the heat.
The fight of yesterday was a serious affair.
Encountering a force of rebel cavalry at Brandy
Station, Buford opened the engagement, press
ing the enemy back near to Culpeper, when a
heavy reinforcement of infantry fell upon the
Federal flank, compelling a retreat to Brandy
Station, with considerable loss. The entire rebel
army is concentrated in the neighborhood of Cul-
23
266 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
peper; and it is possible that the fight may be
renewed at any hour. Xo troops are here but
those belonging to the First Corps. We must
make our intrenchments count in the place of
men.
MONDAY, August 3. The railroad bridge across
the river was completed to-day, a locomotive pass
ing over to try its strength. Everything is quiet
on the plain below. Our position is the same as
yesterday, excepting that the Eleventh was moved
further to the front this afternoon. AVe are now
on the hill occupied during the engagement of
last August, and which our boys claim especially
as belonging to them. Here are the breastworks
thrown up nearly a year ago. They have been
strengthened this afternoon, and if the enemy
should attack us again in this place, he will have
a greeting quite as warm as on the former occa
sion .
TUESDAY, August 4. ~\Ve had about made up
our minds that an opportunity would be afforded
to test the strength of our intrenchments and
our ability to hold them. The day passed quietly
enough until two o clock P.M., when the discharge
of a cannon out in front brought every man to
his feet. A few steps from our tent and the
whole plain was visible. The rebels had planted
a battery on the crest of a slight eminence, a mile
distant, and opened a rapid fire on the pickets,
at the same time they advanced a strong line of
ELEVENTH ON HARTSUFF S KNOLL. 267
skirmishers. For a time everything looked as
though a general engagement was inevitable.
Our guns replied to the enemy; the cavalry
formed in line of battle on the plains, and the
Ninetieth Pennsylvania reinforcing the Elev
enth on the top of HartsufFs Knoll, the men
took their places in the intrenchments. After
two hours of brisk skirmishing, all the time
gradually advancing, our cavalry compelled the
enemy to withdraw. The plain is now quiet, but
the troops are ordered to remain in the intrench
ments.
CHAPTER VI.
OCCUPYING THE LINE OF THE RAPIDAN.
N General Meade reached the Rappahan-
nock, he proposed at once to follow up the pur
suit of Lee, rather than to wait for the rebel
general to rest his men and recruit his army.
But orders from Washington directed Meade to
assume a threatening attitude along the Rappa-
hannock, but not to advance beyond it. The
operations on the south side of the river, during
the first days of" August, were in obedience to
General Halleck s orders.
The campaign was now at an end. Through-
268 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
out the month of August the army remained in
undisturbed quiet, receiving daily accessions to
its numbers from the draft that had been made
in the several Northern States. Some of the
drafted men were good and reliable soldiers ;
but the vast majority that first reached the army
were hired substitutes, adding nothing whatever
to its material strength. They deserted every
day by scores, before they had time to learn the
number of the regiment to which they were as
signed, or even the letter of the company. The
division guard-house became an indispensable in
stitution, often containing at one time a hundred
prisoners. Courts-martial were in perpetual ses
sion, and the shooting of deserters an ordinary
affair.
The mortality among the conscripts, even of
the better class, was fearfully great. Coming to
the front in the heat of July and August, and
taking their places by the side of men who had
been inured to the service, they broke down on
the march, or yielded to the first attack of dis
eases incident to camp life.
Toward the 1st of September, the numerical
strength of the army was greatly diminished by
sending detachments of troops, first to South
Carolina, and then to New York to enforce the
draft. But the army of General Lee had under
gone a like depletion, Longstreet s Corps having
been sent to the Southwest to reinforce Bragg.
PICKETING RACCOON FORD. 269
Without waiting for instructions from Wash
ington, General Meade abandoned the line of the
Rappahannock, and advanced to the Rapidan.
The rebel army was found on the south bank, in
a position so strongly fortified as to defy an at
tack in front. The country south of the river
was almost unknown, and before a flank attack
could be made the only one promising any suc
cess it was necessary that the territory should
be explored by our cavalry.
Meanwhile the disaster of Chickamauga oc
curred, and the Potomac Army was further weak
ened by the departure of the Eleventh and
Twelfth Corps to Tennessee. With the army
thus reduced, the attack on the enemy s flank
was abandoned, and General Meade occupied
the line of the Rapidan, as he had before occu
pied the line of the Rappahannock.
THURSDAY, September 24th. Moving from
camp near Culpeper, the First Corps has taken
the place of the Twelfth Corps, next to the river.
The regiment is doing picket duty at Raccoon
Ford. The history of the Eleventh marks each
distinctive step of the war. First we did picket
duty on the Potomac; then, advancing south
ward, on the Rappahaunock, and now on the
Rapidan. Will it come our turn, in the course
of events, to picket the James?
A part of the day has been spent with two
men who are to be executed for desertion. One
23*
270 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
is an Irishman, and the other a German. The
German has been in this country only two or
three months, and is to be pitied as the victim
of circumstances. The case of the Irishman is
one of the many impositions practiced upon the
government. A citizen of 1$ew York, he sold
himself for a substitute in Boston, and then took
advantage of -the first opportunity to desert.
SUNDAY, September 21. Broke up camp at
noon, and after marching an hour through the
woods and over the rocks that skirt the base of
Pony Mountain, halted in our present bivouac
near Mitchell s Station, the railroad crossing of
the Rapidan. The wherefore of these short and
frequent moves is not quite plain to us. One
thing, however, is apparent our friends across
the river do not mean that we shall come to
their side of the stream, for, as usual, they are
busy ditching and intrenching a position that
nature has already rendered next to impreg
nable.
THURSDAY, October 1. These mellow, au
tumnal days slip away almost imperceptibly.
September is gone, and we have entered upon
October. So little has been accomplished since
the battle of Gettysburg, that we fear to think
the fall rains will soon commence. Virginia
mud will be worth more to Lee than fifty thou
sand men. The cases of Sullivan and Yon He-
nike are still in suspension. But another Ger-
EXECUTION OF A DESERTER. 271
man, named Schmidt, a conscript belonging to
the Ninetieth Regiment, has been added to the
condemned, and will be shot to-morrow.
FRIDAY, October 2. Private Henry Schmidt
was executed in presence of the entire division.
It is well when a man is to be ushered into eter
nity, whatever is the nature of the crime for
which he dies, that all the arrangements should
be solemn and impressive. The troops were
drawn up on three sides of the open grave, with
space enough between the regiments in front for
the funeral cortege to pass through. After the
lines were formed, the slow notes of the band
playing a funeral dirge, gave warning that the
procession was approaching. The provost mar
shal of the division entered the arena, followed
by an ambulance containing the condemned and
a Catholic priest. Arrived at the grave, the
coffin was placed at its side. The priest and the
prisoner knelt a moment in prayer, then taking
a seat on the coffin, the hands and feet of the
condemned were pinioned, a bandage placed over
his eyes, and all was ready for the execution.
The commands were given in a clear, steady voice,
"Ready aim tire !" Half a dozen balls entered
the body near the heart, and without a move
ment of limb or muscle, the deserter was dead.
Schmidt had been in the country only a few
months. He was a stranger in a strange land.
The friends he left behind in the fatherland will
272 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
never know what has become of him, and there
will be none to mourn his ignoble fate.
WEDNESDAY, October 7. Most of the regiment
has been detailed for special picket duty. The
Rapidan in front is so narrow, that the pickets of
the two armies approach within a few yards of
each other. With rare exceptions the utmost
good feeling prevails, and a regular exchange
of newspapers, coffee, sugar and tobacco is kept
up.
FRIDAY, October 9. The quartermaster is
busy issuing eight days rations to the men,
always a sure intimation of a speedy move.
Yesterday morning, as division officer of the day,
Colonel Coulter had a short interview with a
Confederate captain, stationed on the south side
of the Rapidan. The rebels fired on our pickets
stationed near the house of Dr. Stringfellow, and
the meeting was in the interests of the family,
who were in continual alarm for their personal
safety. The officer said that the firing was unau
thorized, and had occurred through the removal
of the old pickets and the substitution of others
not acquainted with the order against picket
firing. The fact of the interview was signaled
O O
all along the rebel lines, and read at our own
stations. For some time the signal officers have
thought themselves in possession of the key to
the enemy s signals, and this slight event, appar
ently so accidental, has proved the surmising
READING THE ENEMY S SIGNALS. 273
to be true. General Meade and staff spent the
day at the signal station on Pony Mountain.
The discovery of yesterday has doubtless much
to do with present preparations for an advance.
What a little thing sometimes develops great
issues!
SUNDAY MORNING, October 11. Late on Friday
night, orders were received indicating the char
acter of the move for which preparations had
been making during the day. Buford s Division
of cavalry was to cross the Rapidan at (srermania
Ford, and, marching up the south bank, uncover
the fords of Morton and Raccoon, at which
points the First Corps was to cross and move
against the enemy s right, while the Sixth Corps
was to attack his left, The infantry forces were
to march as noiselessly as possible, and to be at
the localities designated before daylight, so as
not to, awaken the suspicion of the enemy, or
reveal the movements of the cavalry.
Leaving camp at two o clock Saturday morn
ing, long before the hour appointed Robinson s
Division was massed in the woods in front of
Raccoon Ford, awaiting the approach of Buford.
Hour after hour wore away, but no sign of our
horsemen. A little after dusk yesterday even
ing, the cavalry still failing to appear, the divi
sion moved back to Culpeper pike, in sight of
Stevensburg, where we remain in bivouac. It is
rumored that while Meade is operating here on
274 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
the enemy s left, Lee is moving up toward our
right. However that may be, the movement on
this side of the Rapidan extends to the whole
army, and no longer looks like an advance.
MONDAY MORNING, Oct. 12. Yesterday after
noon the First Corps marched to Kelly s Ford,
on the Rappahannock, the Eleventh in rear of
Robinson s Division. No time was lost on the
way, as it soon became known that the pickets
had been withdrawn from the Rapidan, and the
rebel cavalry was in close pursuit. Twice the
regiment was halted to meet an expected charge
of the enemy. As the sun was going down the
men waded waist-deep through the waters of the
Rappahannock, and formed in line on the north
bank. Our batteries were unlimbered and placed-
in positions commanding not only the river ford,
but all the opposite plain. General Baxter was
ordered to keep a watch on the road over which
we had come, and have a care lest we did
not fire into Buford s men, who might find it
necessary to fall back in this direction. The
large brick-mill and neat dwelling-houses at the
ford, the river-hills, and the broad, green plain
on the opposite shore, seen in the lingering twi
light of yesterday evening, made up a picture
the mind will long retain.
MONDAY EVENING. The sharp firing heard all
day, at short intervals, on our right, is certain
evidence that the enemy, as well as ourselves, is
A RAID ON THE SUTLERS. 275
making rapid moves. For several hours we have
been in readiness to march. Just now an order
was received for the wagons to proceed to Beal-
ton Station, and the drivers are already in the
saddle.
The individuals who suffer most in these ex
cited army movements are the sutlers. A large
train of them had ventured to the front with a
heavy stock of goods. Halting with us here at
Kelly s Ford, they have been doing a brisk trade.
There is great alarm among them as they make
for the rear; and great sport among the boys as
one wagon after another (from whose wheels the
pins have been secretly removed) breaks down,
leaving their contents to the mercy of a hundred
sly and roguish soldiers. That hurrah, this mo
ment heard, is everywhere understood to mean
"cleaning out" a sutler s establishment, and
never fails to bring forth a large body of recruits.
CENTERVILLE, Wednesday, Oct. 14. For the
last thirty-six hours we have had scarcely more
than time to breathe. Monday midnight the di
vision left Kelly s Ford for Warrenton Junction.
All manner of rumors were in circulation as to
the doings of the rebels. Some had it that they
were moving in large force far up to our right;
others again, that they were coming down from
Warrenton. The latter report seemed the more
probable; because from the Ford to the Junc
tion was all the way at a run, and with scarcely a
276 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
halt. Robinson s Division was the first to reach
the threatened point, and without a moment s
delay artillery and infantry were formed in line
of battle.
If any one imagines it to be an easy thing to
move an army, he should have seen the sight
that here presented itself. oSTot far in the rear
was heard the roar of cannon; but louder than
this came the rumbling of hundreds of wagons,
that in every direction skirted the horizon, and
covered the plain. By every avenue troops were
pouring in, until the eye wearied of the watch
ing. Waiting in line of battle for two hours,
Robinson moved on to Catlett s Station, and
then to Bristow, where, foot-sore and tired, we
bivouacked for the night.
Early this morning the division was again in
line, moving toward Manassas. A courier re
ported Manassas Junction occupied during the
night by a force of the enemy. Skirmishers
were thrown out on either flank and in front.
Slowly and cautiously the troops advanced, halt
ing occasionally that the skirmishers might enter
some copse of woods, or turn some angle in the
road far enough in advance to give the main
column notice of danger. But not a foe was
to be seen to dispute our march. Over Ma
nassas plains and across Bull Run we continued
to these hights of Centerville, within whose for
tifications \ve are ordered to halt. Thousands of
MYSTERIOUS MOVEMENTS. 277
armed men, and bristling cannon, and white-
topped wagons crowd the roads below. What it
all means is to us a profound mystery.
CHAPTER VII.
FROM THE RAPIDAN TO CENTERVILLE.
THE reason of the retrograde march soon be
came apparent. As already stated, General
Meade determined to assault the enemy s right
in the vicinity of Raccoon and Morton Fords.
From the hights of Pony Mountain and Slaugh
ter s Hill the country had been carefully studied,
and the plan of attack thoroughly discussed.
But the last view from those look-outs presented
a new scene to the eyes of our signal officers. It
told that a movement of vast magnitude the
very counterpart of our own was in progress on
the south side of the Rapidan. Lee was as well
satisfied that he could turn the Federal right,
and break our communications with Washing
ton, as Meade was that he could turn the rebel
right, and break Lee s communications with Rich
mond; and the singular coincidence occurred of
the two armies moving to attack one another at
24
278 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
the same time, and on the same though opposite
flanks.
Confident of the enemy s intentions, Gen
eral Meade determined to select his own battle
ground. The cavalry was thrown out to watch
Lee s movements; Pleasanton occupying the
ground between the Bappahannock and Cul-
peper, and Gregg guarding the fords near and
above Warrenton. The commanding general
looked to Gregg for the earliest information of
the whereabouts and the doings of the enemy
on his right.
The Federal army was that moment en route
for Warrenton Junction, along which line it was
intended to await the approach of the Southerners.
But no word coming from Gregg that would in
dicate the appearance of the enemy on the Upper
Rappahannock, and Pleasanton reporting that
Lee was concentrating around Culpeper, the
troops were halted, and three corps moved back
to Brandy Station.
A recoimoitering party kept on to Culpeper,
but without meeting any force of the rebels.
It began to be thought that General Lee had
countermanded marching orders, and that his
troops were going back into the old position
along the Rapidan. Thus passed the 12th of
October until ten o clock at night, when word
came in from Gregg that his cavalry was at
tacked by an overpowering force of the enemy,
FIRST CORPS AT BRISTOW STATIOX. 279
and driven from their defenses with great loss.
He was then within five miles of Warrenton
Junction, hard pressed by Ewell, with whom he
had been contending since eleven o clock A.M.
It was a critical moment. On our ri^ht Hank
O
were the advancing columns of Lee s entire army,
while our own corps were distributed, one at Free
man s Ford, three at Brandy Station, across the
Rappahannock, and one at Kelly s Ford. The
darkness of the night favored the concentration
of our troops, and the correction in part of Gregg s
error. But Meade was compelled to move fur
ther in toward his base, in order to get the army
together and recover a position on the line of
his communications.
The First Corps came to Warrenton Junction,
by w r ay of Bealton, without opposition. Xo
enemy showing himself, after a halt of two hours
the troops were pushed on to Bristow Station,
and then to Manassas. Not a living thing was
to be seen moving over those broad plains, on
which had settled down the very silence of death.
Far to the left great clouds of dust were driving
along by the blustering October winds. Lee was
still moving over the Warrenton pike, with the
hope of occupying Centerville, and thus compel
Meade to open his communications with Wash
ington by first attacking that strong position.
The First Corps continued its steady and rapid
march, reaching the bights of Centerville at
noon of October 14th.
280 STORY OP THE REGIMENT.
Although a day behind the rebels in the start
of that exciting race, we were now several hours
in advance. General Ewell, whose corps led the
opposing army, in his eagerness to strike our
flank, left the plain road over which he was march
ing, and penetrated a section of country lying be
tween the railroad and the Warrenton turnpike.
It proved a terra incognita, in which his entire corps
was lost. Heath s Division came up with the
rear of the Federal army at Bristow, and follow
ing close after it to Kettle Run, the skirmish
assumed the outlines of a fierce battle, Heath
losing five pieces of artillery, two stands of colors,
and five hundred prisoners.
There was something too threatening in those
fortified hights of Centerville, bristling with ar
tillery and crowded with infantry, for General
Lee to come further north, and his troops halted
south of Bull Run. The Federal army now \vell
in hand, General Meade at once countermarched
his troops, ready to accept battle wherever the
enemy might offer it.
CUB RUN, October 15. Three hours after
reaching Centerville Robinson s Division moved
back along the "Warrenton turnpike to Bull Run.
The Eleventh formed in line to the left of Stone
Bridge, extending some distance down the stream.
Along this same road the army has twice re
treated in rout and confusion. The extreme
care with which the pickets were stationed ; the
THE REPRIEVED DESERTER. 281
strict orders given to the men; and the low tone
of voice in which all commands passed down the
column, betokened danger, and seemed to point
to the possibility of a third engagement on this
ill-fated field. iSTo fires were allowed to be kin
dled, and with blankets spread on the ground,
we went to sleep, watching the bright stars
that shone in the overhanging sky. The night
passed without the firing of a shot ; and this
morning the Eleventh moved to the hights of
Cub Run, where we still remain in line of battle,
with several large guns in position on the hill
above us.
FRIDAY, October 16. Xo change since yester
day. The troops are in line of battle awaiting
the movements of the enemy, who is reported as
massing large forces directly in front.
To know the meaning of Despair and Hope
one must have such an experience as was this
day afforded at the division guard-house. The
execution of Harrison, convicted of desertion at
the battle of Fredericksburg, was fixed at twelve
o clock noon. We called to see him at ten
o clock. His countenance was haggard and care
worn. It was hard for him to realize that he
must die so soon; but he saw no avenue of escape,
and had given up all hope. Some time was spent
in writing to his mother, begging her to forget
the manner of his death, and to believe that he
never intended to desert. His personal effects
24*
282 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
were given into our keeping, together with mes
sages for several absent friends. It was now past
eleven o clock. The ambulance in which the
condemned was to ride to the grave, and also
containing the coffin, had driven up along the
roadside; while the beating of the drums, that
announced the forming of the division to witness
the execution, could be distinctly heard. Every
thing was ready to carry out the sentence of the
court-martial, and the officer only delayed for
the word of command. Presently there came
the sound of a horse s hoofs clattering over the
hard stony road. It was an aid from army head
quarters, not to order the procession forward,
but bearing in his hands a commutation of the
death penalty. The complacent smile on the
face of the rider betrayed the nature of his mes
sage before it was read aloud in the hearing of
the prisoner. Harrison looked at the officer
for a moment with a vacant stare, and then ex
claimed, in a wild and hurried manner:
" Read it again, won t you ? Does it mean me ?
Are you sure there is no other Harrison in the
army ? Am I really to live ?"
His tongue refused to say anything more.
Nerves strung to the utmost tension now relaxed ;
and, prostrate on the ground, the reprieved man
gave expression to feelings too deep for words in
tears of joy. Saw Harrison an hour ago. That
look of fixed despair was gone. The light of hope
SECOND BULL RUN BATTLE-FIELD. 283
was in his eye, giving him the appearance of
quite another being.
MONDAY, October 19. General Lee refuses
battle, though offered to him on the field of Bull
Run. He is now retiring in the direction of the
Rappahannock, but will hardly be permitted to
do so in undisturbed leisure. Five o clock this
morning the First and Sixth Corps were moving
toward Gainesville and Haymarket. The route
was across Bull Run and along the Warrenton
pike. Leaving the regiment halted near the
Henry House, took a hasty ride over the ground
of the second Bull Run battle. It did not look
as though the foot of a human being had passed
over it since the day of the fight. Boxes half
filled with ammunition, and others again entirely
empty, knapsacks stuffed with clothing now rotten
and musty, and haversacks containing the moulded
remains of the last scanty issue of rations, lay
scattered about just as we had seen them during
the engagement. From the spot where the regi
ment halted on the night of August 29th, we
rode to the extreme right of the line, where the
division was sent to the support of Heintzleman.
Coming back over the same path traversed by the
Eleventh in its rapid move to the left, we stood
on Bald Hill, and looked down into the woods
out of which poured the rebels, and over the
fields through which they came, on the afternoon
of the 30th, in such overwhelming masses. The
284 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
field presented a loathsome sight. Human hones,
washed from their shallow graves by the rains of
the past year, covered the ground, telling more
plainly than the living tongue can tell of the
horrors of war. The Eleventh is bivouacked be
tween Gainesville and Haymarket.
TUESDAY, October 20. After my note of yes
terday was made, and toward the dusk of even
ing, we became aware that the enemy was in our
front, but in what numbers it was impossible to
tell. A heavy detail of pickets from the Third
Division, and a battery of four guns, advanced
through Haymarket, and formed in line. Pres
ently the battery opened a quick fire, lasting for
several minutes. Then all was quiet for an hour.
Another rail was added to the camp-fire, and the
men laid down to wait the developments of the
morning. But the discharge of a single musket,
that soon multiplied into volleys, brought every
man to his post, ready to meet the danger. Again
the noise in front ceased, and after extinguish
ing the fire whose genial warmth was so needful
to our personal comfort, the men once more lay
down to sleep. To any one who had seen the
dead of the battle-field arranged in rows for
burial, those ranks of men, wrapped up head and
foot in blankets and ponchos, would have sug
gested the thought of dead men awaiting sepul
ture. This morning brings the report that the
attack of last night was made by a party of guer-
THE DETECTED CONSCRIPT. 285
rillas who drove in our pickets, capturing thirty
or forty prisoners and so exciting the rest as to
cause them to fire upon each other. The Elev
enth is now advanced a mile beyond Haymarket,
supporting a force of cavalry sent out toward
Thoroughfare Gap.
These rapid marches that we have been making
for the past few days have been particularly hard
on the conscripts the "conneys, as the boys
call them for short. They have not yet learned
to march with the same ease as the old soldier,
and many of them present a pitiful appearance
in their efforts to keep up with the column. One
man particularly, who complained of a stiff knee,
awakened our sympathy as he hobbled along
under a heavy knapsack and gun. After earnest
solicitation, an ambulance driver agreed to haul
his knapsack, and when not overcrowded with
sick, allow the fellow to ride. But from the first,
the doctors suspected that it was all pretense, and
that the man was playing a part. Yesterday even
ing, after the regiment halted for the night, to be
certain of his case, the soldier was taken into a tent
and chloroform administered. He had complained
that the knee-joint was so rigid from a hurt re
ceived in youth that it would not bend. But it
was found uninjured, and flexible as the other.
Tying the foot back so as to bring the limb in a
kneeling posture, the conney was aroused to con
sciousness. One look at the laughing spectators,
286 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
and another at his knee, was enough. He was
heard to say, as he left the tent, " Played out!"
This morning he was in the ranks, sound and
well.
THOROUGHFARE GAP, October 21. The First
Corps commenced moving late on Tuesday. Cav
alry scouts reported a large body of the enemy
concentrating at White Plains, with the intention
of falling upon our rear, should we keep up the
pursuit of Lee to the Rappahannock. New tac
tics must now be resorted to by the enemy. Occu
pying this mountain pass, as we do, it would be a
hazardous adventure to attempt its passage. This
is an interesting spot to the Eleventh Regiment,
not only because several companies were sta
tioned in this vicinity, guarding the railroad, in
the spring of 1862, but it is the scene of our first
severe battle. As soon as it was known that the
march was not to be resumed this morning, in
company with Major Keenan, we passed through
Chapman s mill, the strong barricade of the
rebels, and on to the hill above, across which our
men drove the astonished enemy.
" I was standing here by this rock," said the
major, "hurrying up the men of Co. K, when I
was shot. I saw the soldier as he raised his gun
and aimed directly toward me, and felt confident
that he would hit me. But there was such a brief
moment between the look and the shot, that per
haps I confound the thought that he was taking
EXCITING CAMP RUMORS. 287
sure aim with the fact itself. I was near enough
~
to the fellow to see his face, and it is singular
how his features remain fixed in my mind. I be-
lieve now that I could distinguish him from a
regiment of Southerners, though they do look
so much alike."
FRIDAY, October 23. Yesterday and to-day
have been days of quiet and rest. We who are in
camp, trusting to the vigilance of a strong guard
of reliable pickets to keep off the roving bands of
guerrillas that infest these mountains, have given
ourselves up to discussing the various rumors of
the hour, exciting enough to arouse the utmost
stoic. Rosecrans, whose very name hitherto has
been a talisman of strength, has been relieved
from the command of the Cumberland Army.
General Thomas succeeds Rosecrans, while to
General Grant is given the command of the de
partment. In the wake of this dispatch comes
the rumor that General Meade has been removed
from the Army of the Potomac, and that Gen
eral Scdgwick is to be his successor. There is
the usual excitement among the troops always
attendant upon a change in army commanders.
Some are loud in their defense of Meade, while
others again, with equal warmth, condemn him.
One thing is certain, General Meade has added
nothing to his fame since the battle of Gettys
burg, and it is questionable if he has the same
hold upon the troops now that he had then.
288 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER VIII.
GETTING BACK TO THE RAPPAHANNOCK.
ON the 25th day of October the Federal army
was concentrated at Bristow Station. General
Lee rapidly retired before our advance, but at the
same time effectually destroyed the Orange Rail
road from Bristow to the Rappahannock. A
further pursuit was impossible until this main
artery of supplies was repaired, and to this one
object all the resources of the army were ap
plied.
In the mean time, the Confederate army strongly
fortified the defenses at Rappahannock Station,
and confident in the belief that General Meade
could not make another advance during the sea
son, had gone into winter quarters on the south
bank of the stream. But our cavalry, without
waiting on the tardy movements of the infantry,
penetrated the enemy s lines, felt the strength of
his position, and learned the points of attack and
defense.
The relation of that army to our own was such as
to warrant the belief that by marching three corps
to Kelly s Ford, and thence across the Rapidan at
THE ELEVENTH AT MORRISVILLE. 289
Germania Ford, while the two remaining corps
moved by way of Rappahannock Station, the
rear of the rebel army could be reached, and
Lee s line of communication with Richmond
severed.
The new movement was at once inaugurated,
and with a degree of spirit that of itself insured
success. The First, Second, and Third Corps
were to cross at Kelly s Ford, and the Fifth and
Sixth Corps at Rappahannock Station. The
preliminary move concentrated the corps at Cat-
lett s Station, and on Saturday morning, Novem
ber 7th, the army was again in motion.
NEAR MORRISVILLE, November 7. Six o clock
this morning the Eleventh Regiment was bring
ing up the rear of Robinson s Division. It was
understood, before leaving Catlett s, that a grand
movement was in contemplation that might take
us further south than the army had yet essayed
to go. We are now within five miles of the
river at Morrisville, a cluster of houses near the
junction of the roads leading to Kelly s Ford and
Falmouth. A part of our forces have already
reached the river, as heavy firing is heard in that
direction. The night air is cold and chilly, re
minding us of the comforts of stoves and fire
places that we had gathered around us during
our stay at Bristow.
BRANDY STATION, Sunday, November 8. The
clear, shrill blast of the bugle, sounding from
25
290 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
brigade headquarters at four o clock this morn
ing, cut short our slumbers, and from the land of
dreams brought us back to the realities of a fall
campaign. Half an hour later, the Eleventh was
leading the division in the march, and the division
leading the corps. The direction in which the
army is moving, and the prospect ahead, always
make a difference in the conduct of the men. At
other times lively and hilarious, awake to every
thing that can provoke a criticism, and ready to
laugh at it, when the enemy is in front, and a battle
imminent, a quiet that of itself becomes solemn
possesses the most garrulous. Every one is in
communion with himself; and what thoughts are
born of those silent moments; what high resolves
are formed, or what earnest prayers go. up to
Heaven, are only known to Him who can read
man s heart. It was so this morning. The troops
were marching toward the river through a deep
pine forest, the slow firing in front telling of the
presence of the enemy, and for more than an
hour scarcely a word was spoken that disturbed
the current of our meditations.
The fight of yesterday afternoon was for posses
sion of the river crossing, in which the enemy lost
a pontoon bridge, four pieces of artillery, and
twelve or fifteen hundred men in killed and pris
oners. On our arrival at the river hill, the Third
Corps was passing over under cover of the artillery,
and toward ten o clock all the troops were across
BIVOUAC ON AUBURN FARM. 291
moving up the south side to Rappahannock Sta
tion. The passage of the river at Kelly s Ford
flanked the strong position at the railroad bridge,
causing the enemy in front of the Fifth and
Sixth Corps to fall back to Culpeper. The army,
thus united, moved to Brandy Station in long
battle lines, sweeping across the entire plain, and
presenting a sight of great animation. Here we
are in bivouac, with our faces toward Culpeper.
The Eleventh occupies a part of the grounds of
John Minor Botts. In our frequent marches over
this disputed territory, the troops have often been
compelled to make a detour of many weary steps
to save passing through the fields of this im
portant individual. During the late retrograde,
three thousand rebel cavalry halted for the night
on Auburn farm, burning up the fence-rails, and
appropriating to their own use a plentiful supply
of corn and oats. The soldiers have never had
the same respect for Botts that army commanders
appear to entertain ; and no tears are shed over
the losses that are said to make the irate old
Virginian more crusty than ever.
NEAR LIBERTY, Tuesday, November 10. Yes
terday passed in comparative quiet until an hour
before sundown, when with an alarming sud
denness the whole army was in motion. It only
made the excitement greater to observe that in-
O
stead of moving to Culpeper, we were taking the
backward track toward the Rappahannock. Ar-
292 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
tillery and wagons made the most of the good
roads, as the very spirit of Jehu took possession
of the drivers.
"Another race for Manassas," whispered the
brigade commissary, as he rode past to take
charge of his supply train.
When we reached the north bank of the river
it was discovered that only the First Corps was
on the wing, and that instead of Manassas as its
destination, the corps was to be placed along the
line from the Rappahannock to Warrenton Junc
tion. A detachment of four regiments and a
section of artillery, under command of Colonel
Coulter, is stationed at this point, reached last
night at ten o clock.
It is the intersection of three roads, one lead
ing to the upper fords of the river, another direct
to Warrenton, and a third running parallel to
the railroad, and at present used by our trains
in conveying supplies to the front. From the
location of Liberty, the special duty of the de
tachment, as may be inferred, is to fill up a
gap through which Stuart or Moseby might fall
upon our wagons, or capture the stores at Beal-
ton Station, two miles distant.
FRIDAY, November 13. Our camp is in the
midst of a pine forest, whose trees have been cut
out to make room for the quarters of officers and
men; while a fence, constructed of green pine
boughs, incloses the entire space. Just now the
CAMP NEAR LIBERTY. 293
weather has all the genial warmth of a Northern
Indian summer; and if soldier life were ever like
that we have been living for the past few days, war
would not be a frightful thing. There is only
enough of actual danger to make the pickets
watchful, and prevent the men from straying too
far from camp. Passing down the several com
pany streets this evening, beginning with Co. A
on the right, and ending with Co. B on the left,
you might notice at the head of each street, ex
cept one, comfortable board shanties, the quarters
of the several line officers. The exception is Co. G-.
Our boys have come to believe that in some way
or other the movements of the regiment are con
nected with the building of Captain McGrew s
quarters. For a long time past it has been ob
served that at the moment the captain has fin
ished fixing up for a lengthy stay in camp, orders
to march have been received. Neither officers
nor men have the slightest disposition to leave
Liberty; and as a condition that he will be in no
hurry to complete his house, Captain McGrew
is the guest of all the other companies, entitled
to the choice seat at table, and the extra blanket
at night.
SUNDAY, November 15. A heavy rain last night,
with thunder and lightning. To-day the weather
is cool and cloudy. Most of the Eleventh is out
of camp on special duty, giving to our quarters
an unusual quiet. A soldier belonging to the
25*
294 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Ninth New York died suddenly this morning,
and was buried an hour ago. There is some
thing touchingly sad in these army funerals;
not that they are wanting in feeling, or in any
of the respect which the living everywhere pay
to departed friends. But do the best we. can,
and it is only a rough sepulture. A blanket is
at once winding-sheet and coffin. Sometimes
in an obscure corner of the camp, and again
along the roadside, a square trench receives the
remains. A rude board, unskillfully inscribed
with name, company, and regiment, may tell
who lies there, but far more frequently even
this is wanting; and there is nothing to distin
guish the grave of a brave soldier from the com
mon earth that surrounds it.
WEDNESDAY, November 18. There has been
no little excitement in camp during the last three
days. Sunday morning one of our men went to
a farm-house near by to purchase something for
the mess. The farmer would not allow him to
alight; but pointing to three horses tied up at a
residence quarter of a mile distant, told him they
were Moseby s guerrillas, and to make his way
back to camp as fast as possible. The farmer
himself has been suspected of belonging to
Moseby, and was given to understand that he
would be held responsible for attacks on the
pickets, or any of the men near his premises,
which may have been the reason of his anxiety
AFTER THE GUERRILLAS. 295
for the safety of Mike. From the manner in
which both rider and horse came panting into
camp, the farmer s instructions must have been
obeyed to the letter. A party went out in pur
suit of the guerrillas, scouring the country for
several miles. The road they had taken was
readily shown by those of whom inquiry was
made; but in every instance certainly the wrong
one, for nothing could be seen of the flying
horsemen. Monday morning the whole field
and staff of the Eleventh, with the addition of
several cavalrymen, renewed the search, with no
better success. To-day the picket line was se
cretly extended, taking in several of the sus
pected houses, and the three gentlemen who
have been prowling about our camp since Sun
day, were taken prisoners. They were on foot
when captured, and armed with navy revolvers.
Guerrilla warfare is little better than cowardly
assassination. If General Meade will send the
prisoners to the detachment stationed at Liberty
for proper punishment, the census of Virginia
will be reduced by three before morning.
THURSDAY, November 19. Expecting a speedy
move. The paymaster has been here to-day,
paying off the regiment for the months of Sep
tember and October. Then there has been a
canceling of the conditions between Captain
McGrew and the line officers, and the headquar
ters of Co. G are nearly completed. It hap-
29G STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
pened in this wise: The captain s negro man,
lost during the night of our march to Liberty,
and carrying with him the entire commissariat
of his master, suddenly turned up to-day, minus
everything but a handleless coffee-pot. The
captain insisted on including Bob in the liberal
conditions made for his own easy subsistence.
But the party of the second part strongly de
murred, saying many things of the looks and
habits of the African in question neither com
plimentary nor polite. The result was a disso
lution of the social compact between the Captain
of Co. G and the other line officers of the Elev
enth Regiment.
The delightful fall weather still continues.
When the sun goes down, the frosty evening air
is tempered by the huge fires burning through
out the camp, and around which the men gather
in groups. The conversation is more generally
retrospective than prospective; suggested, pos
sibly, by the presence of one whose arm or leg
has not quite recovered from some serious wound,
and who now, in the midst of attentive listeners,
recounts the mishaps of past battles. Xoble, of
Co. A, and Murdock, of Co. E, were both re
ported killed, the latter at Thoroughfare Gap,
and the former at Bull Run. Xoble was left on
the battle-field nearly a week. Toward evening
of the day of the fight, a Confederate soldier
came along and placed near him a haversack
ADVENTURES OF THE WOUNDED. 297
tolerably well filled, and a canteen of water.
Fortunately for Noble, he bad fallen near a clump
of bushes, which afforded ample shade during the
heat of the day. With his haversack and can
teen, he began to calculate that although a
Minie ball had penetrated his side, producing a
painful wound, and entirely disabling him, his
chances for living were still tolerably fair. Next
day another rebel soldier passing that way, gave
it as his opinion that the sergeant would die in
exactly three hours ; and lest they should fall
into more worthless hands, relieved him of haver
sack and canteen. Then he was compelled to
beg of those that lingered around the battle-field
for the sake of the spoils. One gave him a drink
of water, another a cracker, and a third put a
blanket under his head. Two days later three
or four Virginia soldiers came along in company,
one of whom wanted his shoes.
"No," said Noble; "these are all I have, and
you can t get them." "But see here, Yankee,"
replied the Southerner, "you ll die anyhow to
morrow. My shoes are all worn out ; yours are
good, and I will have them." He then stooped
down and began to untie Noble s shoes. "No
doubt," retorted the wounded Federal, "you are
a brave fellow. Only a brave soldier like you
are would take the shoes from a man unable to
help himself. You always bring up the rear
guard in time of battle, don t you ?" The com-
298 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
panions of the Confederate, who had been look
ing on all the while, raised a loud laugh, and the
Virginian walked away, leaving the sergeant in
possession of his shoes. On the sixth day, one
of our ambulances, sent out under a flag of truce
to bring off the wounded, passed near him. He
called to the driver and begged to be taken up.
But the ambulance had already a full load, and
the driver said he would take no more. The
offer of money, however, touched the fellow s
heart sooner than the wounded man s condition,
and a comfortable passage was secured to one of
the Washington hospitals.
Sergeant Murdock was reported killed at
Thoroughfare Gap. He was shot through both
legs at the moment our men were retiring
from the hill from which they had driven the
enemy. After laying for some time in a par
tially unconscious state, he became aware of
some one coming toward him. It was a rebel
picket, feeling his way slowly over the rough and
uneven ground. The Southerner had raised his
gun, ready to shoot, when a groan brought him
to the side of the wounded Federal. Between
the two thus introduced, there sprung up the
most kindly feeling, and in his new friend Mur
dock found a protector against several fellows of
the baser sort, who shortly after arrived, plun
dering the living as well as the dead. From
Thoroughfare Gap he was conveyed to Warren-
THE END OF A PRACTICAL JOKE. 299
ton, the rebel general hospital, and was there on
the 26th of the following September, when the
town was captured by our cavalry. A week or
so prior to that attack, a visit from the Yankees
was hourly expected. Then came wild stories,
that Washington and Baltimore were in posses
sion of Southern troops, and that Lincoln and his
Cabinet had fled to Philadelphia. The Yankees
were entirely forgotten, and everybody gave
themselves up to the joys of the hour. One tine
afternoon, a number of ladies were visiting the
hospital. Some young Southern beaus, who bad
been watching from the cupola of the building a
squadron of cavalry going through the quick
evolutions of the drill, came down in apparent
alarm, and announced that the Yankees were
approaching the town in force. Of course the
ladies were frightened, and the gentlemen too,
not in the secret of the joke. But, alas for the
jokers, the cavalry force they had supposed to be
their own, were genuine Yankees, and in less
than half an hour the town was in our posses
sion!
FRIDAY, November 20. Yesterday afternoon
a young lady, attended by an ancient negro, came
into camp, asking the services of a physician in
behalf of her mother. It was too late an hour in
the day at once to accompany the lady to her
home ; but after leaving explicit directions how
to tind the house, she was dismissed with the as-
300 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
su ranee that the doctor would see her mother in
the morning. The lady was sincere enough to
say that guerrillas were frequently seen in the
neighborhood in which she lived, and begged of
the surgeon not to come alone. It would be
better to come in such numbers as either to over
awe an attack or be able to resist it. It cannot
be said that no suspicions were entertained as to
the designs of the fair visitor. Some accused
her of acting the part of a spy, and regarded the
guerrilla story as made up to deceive. Others de
clared that the intention was to invite all the
mounted officers belonging to the regiment out
of camp, and then make a wholesale capture of
them. It was at last decided that if guerrillas
were so near camp we had better know it; and
if the young lady were an accomplice, she ought
to be secured before imparting to them any
knowledge she might have gained by coming
within our lines.
Fully armed and equipped, a party of ten,
under command of Captain Haines, started this
morning through the woods and over the fields,
two miles beyond the picket lines, to the resi
dence of Mrs. Kelley. It is an old Virginia
mansion, large enough in its dimensions to recall
the halcyon days of Virginia hospitality. Within
and without everything indicated taste and re
finement. The captain had observed the. pre
caution of posting a part of the escort outside of
THE DOCTOR S OUTSIDE PATIENT. 301
the house to give alarm in case of danger. Thus
secure in the enjoyment of the conversation of
two intelligent ladies (the mother did not prove
to be seriously indisposed), interspersed with de
lightful music by the younger, an hour passed
rapidly away. It was like suddenly transplant
ing us from the roughness of soldier life to all
the kindly endearments of home. As we bid
adieu to those who had made us so happy, and
turned our faces camp ward, we laughed at our
unfounded suspicions, and sincerely wished that
the doctor might have many such patients.
SATURDAY, November 21. It is a serious ques
tion whether, after all, the pleasant termination
of yesterday s adventure was not owing more to
good fortune than prudence. The events of to
day have almost confirmed the first suspicions
entertained of the young lady who visited our
camp on Thursday, and that a few hours ago we
were so ready to laugh away. A party of guer
rillas, variously estimated at seventy-five to one
hundred and fifty strong, just now attacked a
supply train, under escort of a small cavalry
force. The guard was overpowered, and taking
refuge in flight, fell back on the first line of
pickets. The guerrillas were dressed in blue
overcoats, and before they could be distinguished
from our own men, succeeded in capturing five
or six of the infantry pickets. The alarm soon
became general, and the whole detachment was
26
302 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
speedily under arms. But after robbing their
prisoners of money, overcoats, and haversacks,
and with eighteen mules and four horses, Moseby
was off as suddenly as he came. A cavalry force
was sent out in immediate pursuit, and a second
squadron is preparing to follow.
Was the young lady an accomplice of these
thieving fellows, and did she really intend to
lead us into the hands of this party, whose ar
rival she had calculated a day too soon ? Ap
pearances are certainly much against her, and
in the absence of positive proof, we have con
cluded to decline the very polite invitation to call
again !
SUNDAY, November 22. Three or four of the
guerrilla party that entered our lines yesterday
have been captured. It scarcely admits of a doubt
that these robbers are citizens of the immediate
vicinity, so familiar with every nook and corner
that their capture in any numbers is next to im
possible. Those captured to-day were taken in
the very act of changing the attire of the soldier
for that of the farmer.
An hour after sundown orders were received
to be ready to march to-morrow morning. The
men are now engaged in cooking the extra ra
tions that have been issued, and a buzzing noise
is heard throughout the camp, in strong contrast
with the former repose of the day. For some
reason, as yet unexplained, General Meade s late
PREPARING TO MARCH. 303
crossing of the Rappa bannock, though a com
plete surprise to the enemy, resulted in nothing
more than the army occupying its old position
around Culpeper. It was a small advantage to
be purchased at the loss of a good many lives;
and in the opinion of leading generals, a great
mistake was committed in not following out the
original plan of pushing across the Rapidan and
attacking the rebel rear. The order received
this evening does not give the line of march;
but it is intimated, now that the railroad is fin
ished to Brandy Station, that the Rapidan is to
be forded at several points, and an earnest effort
made to reach Gordonsville.
CHAPTER IX.
THE MINE RUN CAMPAIGN.
RAPPAHAXXOCK STATION, Wednesday, Novem
ber 25. The entire army has been halted here at
Rappahannock Station since Monday, awaiting
the holding up of a cold, drizzling rain that com
menced falling on Tuesday morning. The sky
is clear now, and with the stiff wind that has
been blowing since noon, the roads must become
at least passably good in a few hours. There is
304 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
no longer any secrecy about the contemplated
move. A Washington paper received this after
noon gives the whole programme. General
Meade s scouts report that the lines of the enemy
are so formed as to leave uncovered all the
lower fords of the Rapidan ; that Swell s Corps
is next to the river, and Hill s Corps in the vi
cinity of Orange Court House, leaving a space
between them of seven or eight miles. Our
present object is to gain this interval, prevent a
union between Ewell and Hill, and give them
battle in detail. "Whatever is done must be
done quickly. There is not an hour to spare. It
is late in the season, and bad weather and bad
roads may be expected any moment.
SOUTH OF THE RAPIDAN, November 26. The
moon was shining in a cloudless sky when we left
Rappahannock Station this morning. After cross
ing the river on the railroad bridge, the Division
marched down stream. It soon became known
that the First Corps was to cross the Rapidan at
Culpeper Mines, while the other corps crossed at
the several different fordings above. We of the
Eleventh did not forget that it was the national
thanksgiving day on which the movement was
inaugurated, and our trust is that God will hear
the prayers this day offered up in behalf of our
cause. Our thanksgiving dinner was eat during
a halt near Richardsville; and though it consisted
only of the plain fare Uncle Sam furnishes his
SOUTH OF THE RAPIDAN. 305
men when on a march, it was with a relish, and,
let us hope, with becoming thankfulness. It
was dark before we reached the Rapidan River.
Pontoon bridges were at once constructed, and
the corps crossed to the opposite hights recently
occupied by the enemy. The bivouac of the
Eleventh is near the Culpeper gold mines. The
hour is one for thought and reflection. We are
further advanced in this direction than any of
the infantry troops have yet marched. If the
movement proves a success, all will be well ; if it
should result in failure, it may be a great ca
lamity. The men are in good spirits, and en
thusiastically cheered the dispatch received from
army headquarters that Grant had gained a de
cisive victory over Bragg.
FRIDAY, November 27. The march was re
sumed this morning at live o clock, over a coun
try entirely unknown, whose hills and ravines
had never before been pressed by such an army.
In two hours we struck the Germania and Fred-
ericksburg road. Our movements became more
cautious as we were advancing through the
dreary and uncertain region of the Wilderness.
Scarcely had we entered its thick growth of
dwarfed oak, when far to our right was heard
the slow and measured reports of artillery. We
knew they were signal guns, and that however
Meade might have deceived the enemy in the
crossing, his presence south of the Rapidan was
26*
306 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
fully known. Pursuing the Fredericksburg road
within five miles of Chancellorville, the Elev
enth halted" in front of the Wilderness Tavern ?
a tall frame building, and one of the bygone ce
lebrities of this remarkable country. There was
some confusion in front, a part of the ambulance
train of the Second Corps having been decoyed
from the right road, and two or three of the
drivers murdered. Xear the tavern is the resi
dence of Major Vincent of the rebel army. To
this house Stonewall Jackson was conveyed after
the battle of Chancellorville. Some distance
beyond we left the old turnpike and marched
along the Orange and Fredericksburg plank-
road. We are now halted at Parker s store,
where the whole corps is concentrated on the
extreme left of the army. There must have
been severe lighting by some of our forces dur
ing the afternoon. It is nearly dark, but from
the direction of the river every once and again
comes the sound of cannon.
SATURDAY, November 28. Two hours after
dark last night Robinson s Division, following the
Orange plank-road half a mile beyond Parker s
store, turned abruptly to the right into a narrow
country road, leading through a thick forest. The
march was continued for more than an hour,
when we halted at the junction of a broader and
more clearly defined highway. The division was
formed in line of battle, with the Eleventh on
IN POSITION ON MINE RUN. 307
the right. " Colonel," said General Robinson,
"tell your men that the Second Corps is on the
left, and the Fifth Corps in front. Instruct the
pickets not to fire without first giving the chal
lenge." The night passed without alarm, and at
daylight this morning the division, continuing its
march through the woods, was massed with the
rest of the First Corps near Robertson s tavern,
on the old Orange turnpike. Two hours later a
general advance was ordered. The army is now
in position along Mine Run. Colonel Coulter is
in command of the division reserve, consisting
of the Ninetieth Pennsylvania, Sixteenth Maine,
and Twelfth Massachusetts, leaving the command
of the Eleventh to Major Keenan. The enemy s
pickets occupy an opposite crest of hills, so sin
gularly shaped as to make them look like the
angles of a fort, while between us and them is a
O
low marshy ravine, through which Mine Run
flows to the Rapidan. Heavy skirmishing has
been going on all day, and there is every appear
ance of another Sunday battle. A cold drizzling
rain has been falling for several hours, making
us fearful of the effect it may have on these
Virginia roads.
An incident occurred this morning which
clearly shows the vigilance of the troops here
marshaled. Shortly after the Eleventh had taken
its position on the extreme left of the line, a body
of skirmishers was seen advancing across the
308 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
fields. The rainy weather made the atmosphere
dull and hazy, and for a time it was doubtful
whether they were friends or foes. The skirm
ishers finally halted, and an officer came within
speaking distance. "Who are you?" " First
Corps, "was the reply. "Who are you?" "Fifth
Corps." " All right," said Major Keeuan, "come
on." Assured that there was no deception, the
officer advanced, saluted the major, and informed
him that the Fifth Corps was approaching to
form on the left of the First Corps.
SUNDAY, November 29. Although there has
been considerable activity in the shifting of divi
sions and brigades, no change has been made in
our battle-line, nor has there been any general ad
vance upon the works of the enemy. The Elev
enth has been on picket duty out in front of the
lines since early this morning, meeting with no
other casualties than private Swartz, slightly
wounded. This evening the Eleventh was added
to the division reserve.
MONDAY, November 30. Marching from our po
sition on the left, the division formed in line to the
right of the Orange pike. Later in the day Gen
eral Robinson was directed to advance his pickets
across a small stream (a branch of Mine Run) di
rectly in front, and build two bridges for the
passage of artillery and troops in column. A
small force of the enemy occupied the overlook
ing crest, and though they stubbornly resisted, a
IN POSITION ON MINE RUN. 309
detachment of the Ninety-fourth New York drove
them awa} . Large working parties are now en
gaged constructing the bridges.
Back at the hospital, the day has been one of
suspense and anxiety. Several times reports came
to the rear that the troops were in the act of at
tacking the rebel fortifications, and from the po
sition the enemy occupies, fearful losses were
anticipated. There ismore news here than reaches
the front. This hospital, from its location, hap
pens to be the rendezvous of the newspaper re
porters, and already the gentlemen of the press
are predicting a retrograde move on the part
of Meade. ^The fight of the Third Corps,
Friday afternoon, with a part of E well s forces,
not only delayed the Second Corps in its march
to occupy the interval between Hill and Ewell,
but revealed the point of Meade s strategy. Fall
ing back from the commanding position at Ro
bertson s tavern to that of Mine Run, by Satur-
dav morninsr the breach in the rebel line was
/ O
closed, and whatever we do now must be done
against a force quite as large as our own.
General Warren marched to-day to the extreme
left of the line, and will attack the rebel right
to-morrow morning. The weather has grown
intensely cold, causing much suffering among the
troops, especially to those on the picket line,
where not a spark of fire is allowed to be kindled.
Three men of the last relief were frozen to death
at their posts.
310 STORY OP THE REGIMENT.
TUESDAY, December 1. Last night General Ro
binson was ordered to suspend all operations on the
bridges in front of his line, and to withdraw the
pickets across the run. From early morning until
this hour (noon) the men have been waiting in
battle-line for the sound of Warren s guns on the
left as the signal of a general charge. Not a
sound, not even the crack of a rifle has been
heard in that direction. Something has gone
wrong, too late to be corrected. The men are
nearly out of rations, and our supply trains are
on the other side of the Rapidan. In another
day we must either go back for supplies, or the
trains must be moved to the front. The former
is far more likely, in the present precarious state
of the weather, than the latter.
FOUR O CLOCK P.M. The First Corps is ordered
to march, by way of Robertson s tavern, to Ger-
mania Ford.
NORTH SIDE RAPPAHANNOCK, NEAR KELLY S FORD,
December 3. One week ago the grand move
ment of the Army of the Potomac was inaugu
rated. This evening we are back within a few
miles of the starting-point. However much was
intended, very little in fact has been accomplished.
My last entry was on Tuesday afternoon, at
the moment the corps began its move for the
river. We bivouacked at midnight overlooking
Germania Mills, crossed the Rapidan at daylight
Wednesday, and took position to cover the cross-
MINE RUN ABANDONED. 311
ing of the Fifth and Sixth Corps. The division
remained at the ford until noon of Wednesday,
when we marched to Stevensburg.
The rations of the men were entirely consumed,
and every haversack was empty. "Twenty-five
cents for a hard tack," was the offer made after
the first hour s march. "Fifty cents for a hard
tack," became the cry as the march continued.
"One dollar for a hard tack," but even that
did not bring it at the hour of bivouac. The
time was in the memory of some of those same
men, who now clamored so loud for hard tack,
when the commissary of Camp Wayne was
treated to a shower of the vilest epithets for
offering them such fare. "Soft bread! soft
bread!" was then the cry. The crackers strung
upon a rope, and with which they garlanded the
neck of his horse, and at last the neck of the
commissary, was their estimate then of that for
which they now clamored so furiously. The
officers were in the same hungry plight as the
men. Imagine the headquarter s mess of the
Eleventh, composed of a colonel, a major, two
doctors, and a chaplain, sitting down on the
ground, ten o clock at night, to a supper made
up of one dish only a plate of fried liver. But
we were better off than brigade headquarters.
Their last meal was taken in the morning, and
consisted of stewed dried apples.
Even the brigade commissary was on short
312 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
allowance, as the novel mode to which he re
sorted to supply himself will fully attest. Rid
ing off some distance from the troops to a fine-
looking residence, he represented himself to the
family as an officer of Stuart s cavalry, disguised
in Yankee uniform, the better to watch the
movements of the Yankee army. Without a
question, he was taken into their confidence.
All the information they had was readily com
municated; and, better still for the captain, pre
parations were at once made for dinner. An
old colored woman, who overheard the conver
sation, unperceived by the family started off in
all haste for the nearest body of soldiers. She
was not long in finding some one to listen to her
story, and a lieutenant and a squad of men were
dispatched to make the arrest. The squad ar
rived at the house as the officer was sitting down
to the table. Expostulation was useless. They
had no time for delay, and he yielded himself a
prisoner to the guard. Taken beiore the corps
commander, of course he was recognized as
Captain Bucklin, Commissary of the Second
Brigade; but it was Captain Bucklin without
his dinner.
This morning, before the march was con
tinued, a ration of fresh beef was issued, and in
the strength of that one meal the men journeyed
to our present halting-place. An hour ago the
wagons came up with full supplies. There is
313
just now a savory smell throughout the camp of
broiling beef and boiling coffee, by no means
unpleasant to the olfactory nerves, as the hos
pital steward likes to say.
SOUTH SIDE RAPPAHANNOCK, December 4. Un
expectedly to all, the first sound that disturbed
our camp this morning was the bugle note to pack
up. We were again to cross the Rappahannock.
Last evening, hungry, tired, and cold, the men
waded three feet deep to the north bank. To
be called upon so soon to repeat the cool opera
tion, was well calculated to ruffle the not very
even temper of the soldier; and terrible male
dictions were called down on the heads of all in
authority. But it must be confessed that there
was less grumbling to-day than last night the
difference, possibly, between stomachs full and
stomachs empty.
TUESDAY, December 8. Without waiting for
orders, the men have gone into winter quarters.
Substantial log-cabins, with fire-places and chim
neys, have been constructed by all the compa
nies. At headquarters we have our w r all tents,
but no fire-places. The fire is on the outside,
and a picture of our present home would show
to good effect. About a mile from the Rappa
hannock, and within a few yards of the road
leading from Kelly s Ford to Stevensburg, would
be seen four tents, two on a line, and one on
each flank, facing inward. Between the tents
27
314 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
and the road is a fence of pine boughs; on the
other side of the road are the quarters of the
men. The iire that burns night and day in
front of the tents deserves to be noticed because
of its royal back log, ten feet long and three
feet in diameter, the contribution of a noble old
white oak tree that has lived in these forests
since the days when the red man claimed them
as his own.
CHAPTER X.
ANOTHER CAMPAIGN COMPLETED.
THE advance on Mine Run completed another
campaign of the war. The operations of the
year had been on a scale of vast magnitude.
Beginning at Chancellorville, seven months be
fore, they had extended twice across Virginia,
through a large part of Maryland, into the inte
rior of Pennsylvania, and back again within a
day s march of the place of commencement.
But in its bearing upon the great issue the
destruction of the rebel army it was easy to
see, looking out from our winter quarters on the
Rappahannock, that the campaign had not ful
filled all its promises.
THE FAITH OF THE ARMY. 315
It must be said, however, that a better spirit
prevailed throughout the army at the close of
this campaign than had marked the close of the
last. There had been, during the year, a grad
ual dying out of the ruinous partisan spirit once
so prevalent. Without losing the least respect
for the genius and ability necessary to command
the army, each man had more respect for his
own well-performed duties. The lesson had at
last been learned that the strength of the army
was not in McClellan, or Burnside, or Hooker,
or Meade, but in the intelligent patriotism of
the rank and file.
There was also to be noticed an increasing
confidence in the integrity of the government,
and in the justice and humanity of those princi
ples lying at the base of the great conflict. The
prophetic spirit of that strangely popular song,
"John Brown s body lies mouldering in the grave,
But his soul is marching on,"
now sung more than ever, possessed every heart;
and though it might seem a long and wearisome
way to the end, the ultimate triumph of the na
tional cause was the accepted faith of the army.
The troops once in winter quarters, no farther
general movement could be expected before the
beginning of May five months in the future.
But with that very month would commence the
expiration of the term of enlistment of a large
316 STORY OP THE REGIMENT.
proportion of the old regiments, and before the
next spring campaign fairly opened, the govern
ment would lose one-half of its most available
force. It was well for the nation that the patri
otism of the army was equal to the emergency;
and when those men were asked to re-enlist for a
second term of three years, if, in yielding to the
request, there was less enthusiasm manifested
than at the first enlistment, the veteran volun
teer proved that he had lost none of his devotion
to country.
It was provided, in addition to the liberal
bounties that a generous people could well afford
to pay to their noble defenders, that each veteran
volunteer should be granted thirty-five days fur
lough; and that where three-fourths of a regi
ment re-enlisted, such portion of the regiment
should go home in a body, taking with it arms
arid equipments. The gallant old Eleventh was
among the first of the Pennsylvania regiments
to answer this new call of the government, just
as it had been among the first to answer the na
tion s call at the end of the three months cam
paign.
During the three weeks that intervened be
tween the inception of this third term of service
on the part of the Eleventh, and its entire com
pletion, in the shiftings of the several corps, and
the changing of the picket lines, marching from
Kelly s Ford to Culpeper, and from thence to
THE VETERAN FURLOUGH. 317
Mitchell s Station, early in January the regi
ment encamped on Cedar Mountain. We were
again upon our first battle-field; the circle was
now complete, and from that field, after spend
ing a few days at Culpeper, it was proper that
the Eleventh Regiment should take cars, on the
5th of February, for Alexandria.
Five days later the regiment was in Camp
Curtin, Ilarrisburg. From that point the men
separated, in companies, and in squads, and
singly, to meet again at the end of the veteran
furlough.
27
VIII.
m
CHAPTER I.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U. S. GRANT.
OLD Time, unaffected by the joyous meeting of
long absent friends, and heedless of the fresh
griefs to be experienced at another parting,
abating nothing of his rapid flight, hurried away
through February and March at his usual gait.
The veteran furlough ended, the Eleventh
once more rendezvoused at Camp Curtin. From
thence over the familiar route through Balti
more, Washington, and Alexandria, and along
the Orange Railroad by the old camping grounds
of Manassas,Bristow, Rappahannock and Brandy
Station, on the last day of March, after an ab
sence of fifty days, the regiment rejoined Bax
ter s Brigade at Culpeper.
During the several weeks of our Northern so
journ a large number of recruits had been added
to the regiment, which now, in dimensions, looked
somewhat like its former self, numbering over
five hundred men present for duty. Many va
cancies were filled among the commissioned
(318)
PROMOTIONS IN THE ELEVENTH. 319
officers, and such a general reorganization ef
fected as told favorably in the subsequent cam
paigns.
Lieutenant Absalom Schall was promoted to
be captain of Co. C, vice Captain Jacob J. Bierer,
honorably discharged ; Lieutenant James Chal-
fant, captain of Co. F, vice Captain E. H. Gay,
deceased ; Lieutenant Andrew G. Happer, cap
tain of Co. I, vice Captain Thomas, mustered out
of service ; Jesse Lauifer, captain of Co. K, vice
Captain John Read, killed at Antietam ; Lieu
tenant John P. Straw, first lieutenant of Co. B,
vice Lieutenant George Tapp, discharged on ac
count of wounds ; Sergeant Enos E. Hall, first
lieutenant of Co. D, vice Lieutenant Chalfant,
promoted ; Lieutenant Samuel J. Hamill, first
lieutenant of Co. E, vice Lieutenant Piper, pro
moted ; Lieutenant Robert Anderson, first lieu
tenant of Co. F, vice Lieutenant Kettering, dis
charged; Lieut. W. A. Shrum, first lieutenant
of Co. I, vice Lieutenant Painter, discharged ;
Quartermaster Sergeant Samuel "W. Phillips,
second lieutenant of Co. B, vice Lieutenant
Straw, promoted ; Sergeant James Moore, second
lieutenant of Co. D, vice Lieutenant Cross, dis
charged; Hospital Steward James J. Briggs,
second lieutenant of Co. E, vice Lieutenant Ha
mill, promoted ; Sergeant Samuel McCutcheon,
second lieutenant of Co. F, vice Lieutenant An
derson, promoted ; John Brenneman, second
320 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
lieutenant of Co. G, vice Lieutenant Liedtke,
discharged.
While the Eleventh was enjoying its well-
earned rest from active duties in the field, and
thus preparing for the future, great and import
ant changes, materially affecting the army, were
taking place at Washington. General IT. S. Grant
had heen confirmed Lieutenant-G-en eral, and was
invested by the President with the chief com
mand of all the national forces.
To those who had known of the petty jeal
ousies and personal ambitious aspirations, often
interfering with the wisest plans, and threatening
the most fatal consequences to the army and the
country, the revival of the rank of Lieutenant-
General, that placed Grant over all other gen
erals, and out of the reach of envy or inter
ference, was accepted as an assurance that the
same spirit which had induced more than three-
fourths of the army to re-enlist for the suppres
sion of the rebellion pervaded every department
of the nation.
Three days before the Eleventh returned to
the front, General Grant established his head
quarters with the Army of the Potomac at Cul-
peper, and the work of getting ready for the
spring campaign was at once commenced. Speed
ily armed and equipped, the new recruits were
drilled four to six hours each day, making such
proficiency in the manual of arms, and in the
A FAREWELL TO THE FIRST CORPS. 321
various evolutions of regiment, brigade, and di
vision, that by the time the spring suns had
dried up the roads, recruits and veterans were
one in everything except the actual experience
of the battle-field.
Instead of the five corps with which General
Meade had conducted the latter movements of
his last campaign, the army was consolidated into
three corps the Second, Fifth, and Sixth com
manded respectively by Hancock, Warren, and
Sedgwick. In this new organization the old
First Corps was merged into the Fifth Corps, of
which Wadsworth s Division was the first, Ro
binson s Division the second, Crawford s Division
the third, and Griffin s Division the fourth. Re
tiring from the command of the First Corps, with
which he had been associated since the death of
the lamented Reynolds, General Newton ex
pressed his regrets in an eloquent farewell ad
dress, in which the former services of the men
were acknowledged and appreciated :
"In relinquishing command, I take occasion to
express the pride and pleasure I have experienced
in my connection with you, and my profound
regret at our separation. Identified by its ser
vices with the history of the war, the First Corps
gave at Gettysburg a crowning proof of valor
and endurance in saving from the grasp of the
enemy the strong position upon which the battle
was fought. The terrible losses suffered by the
322 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
corps in that conflict attest its supreme devotion
to the country. Though the corps has lost its
distinctive name by the present changes, history
will not be silent upon the magnitude of its ser
vices."
In all this new-modeling and reorganizing of
his forces, General Grant had not overestimated
the prowess of his antagonist. The army of
General Lee, composed of the Corps of Ewell,
Hill, and Longstreet the latter just returned
from Tennessee lay along and near the south
bank of the Rapidan, with its flanks well pro
tected by the natural defenses of the country,
and its front secured by strong artificial intrench-
ments. The Federal commander could discover
no secret or untried route leading to Richmond.
The opposing armies were to meet somewhere, as
they had often met before, and the result of the
campaign, as seen from the beginning, was a
question of martial endurance.
The stirring address of General Meade, issued
on the 3d of May, was followed by the bugle
note to march. At midnight the Fifth Corps was
leading the army over the Stevensburg pike
toward the Rapidan. The Sixth Corps followed
after the Fifth; while the Second Corps, keeping
down the north bank to Ely s Ford, was intended
to strike the plank-road near Chancellorville,
each corps commander hoping to evade an en
gagement in the forlorn region of the Wilder
ness.
THE SPRING CAMPAIGN BEGUN. 323
Crossing the river at Germania Ford, and
marching two or three miles toward the Wilder
ness Tavern, five o clock P. M. the Fifth Corps
halted for the night, the Eleventh bivouacking
in an open field, and furnishing the picket de
tail for the brigade. To our right, and some
times apparently in front, during most of the
night, dull rumbling sounds were heard, such as
indicated that the enemy, too, was moving. Five
o clock next morning the march was resumed,
carrying us out to the old turnpike, in sight of
the Wilderness Tavern. With every passing mo
ment it became apparent that our further pro
gress was to be contested.
General Lee, ever watchful, and tracing in the
outlines of the opening campaign the energy of
the new commander, was coming against Grant
in two columns, one along the Orange turnpike,
and the other by way of the Fredericksburg and
Orange plank-road. The rebel general was in
tent on accomplishing what Grant was manoeu
vring to avoid, to intercept our southward
march, and, by striking his blows on the flank,
entangle the Federal army in the Wilderness.
The advance division of EwelFs Corps, that
reached Parker s store, immediately in front of
Warren s left, was the first to become engaged
with parts of the First and Fourth Divisions.
The Fifth Corps, halting all its regiments, and
concentrating on the turnpike, prepared for a
324 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
vigorous defense. The Sixth Corps was hurried
to its place on the right, and the Second Corps,
marching rapidly along the Chancellorville plank-
road, hastened to extend our position on the left.
Sights not strange to the veteran soldier, but
new and exciting to the recruit, were now to be
witnessed. Divisions and brigades, advancing at
a double-quick, were forming in line of battle, or
massing in reserve. Hundreds of pioneers, with
axes and shovels, were felling trees and throwing
up earthworks, behind which scores of cannon,
unlimbered and charged with shot, presented a
threatening array.
The first attack of the Fifth Corps, led on by
Wadsworth and Griffin, drove Ewell from all his
positions, and far in from our front. But meet
ing heavy rebel reinforcements, by a sudden turn
the enemy rallied, and Wadsworth and Griffin
were compelled to give way to the enemy.
Baxter s Brigade, with the Eleventh in front,
marched in quick time to the extreme left at the
moment to support the wavering lines of the
two divisions, and hold in check the advancing
rebels.
The storm of battle had again broken out in
the Wilderness, and was sweeping along the
lines with increasing fury. Lee s intention was
now more apparent than ever. It was to turn
Warren s flank before Hancock, who was march
ing from Chancellorville, could come to his
BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS. 325
relief. He had so far succeeded in his design
that Hill s Corps, overlapping Warren, was al
ready confronting a part of Hancock s lines,
vainly endeavoring to force him back to the
river.
Baxter s Brigade was again ordered to the left,
and together with Grifiin s Division, marched to
the support of Hancock.
It was six o clock in the evening, and the
dense undergrowth through which the troops
had to feel their way made it prematurely night.
The Eleventh, marching by the flank, soon en
gaged the enemy s skirmishers, keeping up a
brisk fire until total darkness ended the contest.
Uniting with Hancock, and throwing out a strong
line of pickets, the position was maintained until
the morning of the 6th of May.
At the close of the first day s fight the line of
the Federal army extended along the Germania
Ford and Chancellorville road, with the right
near the river, and the left near the Brock road
leading to Spottsylvania. During the night it
was determined to make a simultaneous attack
on the enemy s left by Sedgwick, and on his
right by Hancock. Shortly after daylight Han
cock s advance was undertaken by the Fourth
Division of the Fifth Corps and Baxter s Bri
gade. It was a bright May morning, and as
the troops marched through the thick growth
of hazel, the rays of the sun, that here and
28
326 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
there penetrated the deep shade of the Wilder
ness, were reflected as well from the unsheathed
swords of the officers as from the muskets of
the men.
The first shock of battle fell unexpectedly on
the enemy, causing his lines to give way in rout
and confusion. No time was lost by Hancock
in following up so great an advantage, and occu
pying either side of the plank-road with his
forces, the men pushed steadily onward. In
that gallant advance General Baxter was se
verely wounded and taken from the field, leav
ing the command of the brigade to Colonel
Coulter, and the command of the Eleventh to
Major Keenan.
Quick to see the danger that threatened his
right flank by Hancock s valorous assault, Gen
eral Lee hurried forward the troops of Long-
street s Corps, then arriving on the ground, and
placing himself at the head of one of the bri
gades, dashed forward into the wide and extend
ing breach in his lines.
It was not a broad, open country in which the
men were fighting, where the movements of the
enemy could be seen and promptly met by coun
ter movements. But every one knew from the
galling fire poured in that the enemy, reinforced,
was assuming other and more advantageous po
sitions. Presently the whole front lighted up
with deadly volleys, and coming down on our
first lines with the force of an avalanche, the di
visions of Longstreet swept Hancock back over
the ground taken from Hill, across the plank-
road, and to the shelter of the shallow earth
works that the troops had left in the morning.
Sedgwick on the right, at the instant of mov
ing out his lines, received the advance of Ewell,
who had anticipated the Federal attack. After a
fierce conflict, repulsed at every point, the rebel
general slowly retired. Several hours later,
coming once more against Sedgwick, the whole
Sixth Corps was thrown forward, driving Ewell
far back in the Wilderness, and firmly holding
the ground thus won.
It was now noon ; and from right to left there
was a lull in the battle. Each army, half ex
hausted, as if by common consent was reposing
a moment to gather new strength for a more de
cisive blow. Four o clock P.M. there came a
sharp rattling of musketry and a quick succes
sion of artillery reports from the left of the lines.
It was quiet no longer. Longstreet had again
moved up to assault Hancock in the most fear
ful attack of the day, and made with a vehe
mence that threatened to ruin our left and drive
us into the Rapidan.
But foreseeing where the blow would fall, the
left had been strongly reinforced by Gibbons s
Division, to whom Colonel Coulter was ordered
to report his brigade. The charge of the rebels,
328 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
though at first successful, met by the timely ar
rival of Gibbons, was handsomely checked, and
the enemy at last forced back across the Brock
road. Foiled a seccfnd time in his attempt to
turn our flank, and in each instance suffering
severely in killed and wounded, Longstreet with
drew, and, to all appearances, the second day s
fight in the Wilderness was over.
General Lee had promised to drive Grant
across the Rapidan in three days. The advan
tage of the fighting thus far had been with
neither army; but to accomplish his undertaking
the rebel general saw how much still remained
to be done, and in the very last hour of day,
while many a soldier was looking forward to a
night of rest for weary and aching limbs, the
battle broke out afresh far to the right.
With all the stealth and quiet with which the
twilight was coming, a heavy rebel column,
moving out from behind its intrenchments, fell
upon Ricketts s Division, holding the right flank
of the Sixth Corps. Impetuous and sudden, the
enemy s assault was successful, completely turn
ing our flank and cutting us oft from Germania
Ford; and but for the promptness of officers and
men, might have crowned the day with irretriev
able disaster. But fresh troops strengthened the
yielding line, until the enemy, first completely
checked, and then put on the defensive, gave up
the contest.
REBEL SUCCESSES ON THE RIGHT. 329
Colonel Coulter s Brigade, a short time before
united to the division, from which it had been
separated for nearly two days, at the beginning
of the last attack was ordered into position on
the plank-road, in rear of army headquarters. It
was the direction in which the rebels were bear
ing down with such frightful rapidity, until ar
rested further toward the front.
The Federal battle-line, after two days of wave-
like advancing and receding, excepting that the
right was thrown somewhat back, occupied the
same ground on which the conflict had begun.
There was no difficulty in tracing that line
through the most intricate and deeply-tangled
portions of the battle-field. It was not the marks
of blood only that guided us over those six miles
from left to right, but a line of prostrated human
forms, here dead, and there dying; here still and
uncomplaining, and there wild with the delirium
of fever and the agony of pain. Scattered all
along the way, from the Brock road to the Wil
derness Tavern, lay one hundred and fifty-seven
killed and wounded belonging to the Eleventh.
During the quiet of the early afternoon the
roads had been given to the ambulance corps
that came upon the field, rapidly loading up the
wagons with maimed and bleeding forms. The
wounded of the Fifth Corps were placed under
charge of Surgeon Anawalt, with directions to
cross the Rapidan and proceed to Rappahannock
28*
330 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Station, where cars were in waiting to convey
them to Washington. But before the first car
riage of the long line had made half the distance
to the ford, the rebel assault on the right cut us
off from the river. The confusion was only for
a moment.
Doctor/ said an aid-de-camp from General
Warren, "you are directed to take your wounded
men to Fredericksburg."
Turning short in the road, and pushing forward
as fast as a care for the comfort of the men would
allow, a little after midnight Fredericksburg re
ceived its first installment of \vounded from the
Wilderness battle-field.
The 7th of May dawned clear and bright. Sev
eral hours of undisturbed quiet, in rear of army
headquarters, prepared the Eleventh and the rest
of the brigade for a change of position to the
support of Ricketts s Division on the extreme
right. A fierce and determined effort was to be
made to retake the ground lost on the previous
evening ; and as we marched to our place early
in the morning, batteries were already wheeling
into line, preparing to open the attack by a
shower of grape-shot and shell. But when at
last all was in readiness, and with the first volley
of our numerous cannon a heavy body of skirm
ishers advanced, it was found that we were only
beating the air. The rebels had retreated from
our front, and nothing remained but the line of
RACE FOR SPOTTSYLVANIA. 331
rifle-pits from which Ricketts had been driven to
tell the story of their last successful charge.
Traversing each of the roads leading south
ward, the cavalry were employed in developing
the meaning of General Lee s sudden and unex
pected retreat. He had failed to make such an
impression on the Union lines as in any degree
to compensate him for his own severe losses,
and observing the movement of our wagon
trains and ambulances toward Fredericksburg
as a new base of supplies, Lee became alarmed
for the safety of his right flank, and was march
ing with all speed to secure the high grounds
around Spottsylvania Court House.
In rapid pursuit came the Army of the Poto
mac. The Fifth Corps again took the lead, with
Robinson s Division in front. Filing out from
the grounds near the Lacey House, and march
ing past the Second Corps, ten o clock P.M. of
the 7th we struck the Brock road and pushed
on to Todd s tavern. Few and short were the
halts of that long night march, that tested to the
full the endurance of every man.
Five o clock of the next morning the division
was within three miles of Spottsylvania. But
the enemy moving on a shorter parallel road
further to the west, with a start of several hours,
headed us in the exciting race for position.
Crossing our path was the narrow little river
Xy, and in our front, disputing all further pro
gress, were the rebel skirmishers.
332 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Time was now more precious than life; and
without a moment to refresh themselves after the
fatigues of a ten hours march, the division was
pressed rapidly forward, meeting in what was re
ported as only dismounted cavalry, Hood s splen
did Division of rebel infantry. In charging over
the rough and difficult ground, and through Al
sop s farm, though many fell out of the ranks
from utter exhaustion, the troops steadily ad
vanced, driving back the enemy s skirmishers
and pushing on within seventy-five yards of his
intrenched position. At every step the rebel fire
was becoming more and more destructive. At
last it could not be endured, and retiring first to
the edge of the woods, and then to the rear of
Alsop s house, temporary defenses were thrown
up, behind which the troops took shelter.
General Robinson, while gallantly leading
the charge across Alsop s fields, was severely
wounded, and carried from the field, the com
mand of the division devolving upon Colonel
Coulter. " The disabling of General Robinson at
this juncture was a severe blow to the division,
and certainly influenced the fortunes of the day.
The want of our commanding officer prevented
that concert of action which alone could have
overcome the enemy in front."*
But above the loss of General Robinson, the
* Coulter s Report.
DEATH OF MAJOR KEENAN. 333
Eleventh felt the loss of Major John B. Keenan,
shot dead at the head of the regiment while by
word and example he was cheering forward the
men. Identified with the Eleventh from the
beginning, and in every time and place display
ing all the generous qualities of the true soldier,
the commanding officer could well say, not only
for himself, but for the regiment, that "long ac
quaintance led to a full appreciation of Major
Keenan s character. He was brave, cool, and
courteous, and by his personal exertions and
bold example nobly sustained his command."
The rapid arrival of fresh troops enabled us
to hold the line on Alsop s farm. But when the
day closed Robinson s Division was nearly with
out an organization. In three days it had lost
General Robinson, all of its brigade commanders,
and not less than two thousand officers and men.
What still remained of it was temporarily at
tached to the other divisions of the corps. The
First Brigade, Colonel Lyle, was transferred to
the Fourth Division; the Second Brigade,
Colonel Coulter, to Crawford s (Third) Division;
the Third Brigade, Colonel Bowman, was re
tained by General Warren under his own super
vision.
334 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER II.
IN FRONT OF SPOTTSYLVANIA.
LAUREL HILL, Monday, May 9. The
remainder of yesterday, until eight o clock P.M.,
was spent in strengthening our intrenchments
near the Alsop mansion. Then the Eleventh
was ordered some distance further to the right,
passing the rest of the night and until noon of
to-day in erecting defenses in front of the new
position. This afternoon Robinson s Division
was broken up, and the brigade reported to
General Crawford, of the Third Division, near
Laurel Hill. We were at once placed on the
right of the line, the Eleventh (under command
of Capt. B. F. Haines) connecting on the left
with the Pennsylvania Reserves. The Fifth
Corps is now in the center, with the Second on
the right and the Sixth on the left. The enemy
holds strong and solid intrenchments just over
against us, that can only be taken by the most
determined valor.
TUESDAY, May 10. Our men bivouacked last
night behind a range of formidable breastworks;
and but for the active preparations going on
around us, all pointing to an early attack on the
THE ELEVENTH ON LAUREL HILL. 335
enemy s lines, we might have slept in undis
turbed security. When the order came this
morning for a general assault along the whole
front of the Fifth and Sixth Corps, there was a
determined expression on the face of every man,
answering to the desperate work before him.
"You will advance your entire brigade in
support of the line of skirmishers, and carry the
rifle-pits now in front. Go on until you come
upon the enemy s intrenchments, and hold on
firmly to all you get. Take the first line of rifle-
pits at all hazards."
There was no mistaking these orders sent
from General Crawford to Colonel Coulter.
Throwing out the Ninety-seventh New York as
skirmishers, and placing the Eighty-third New
York and Eleventh Pennsylvania on the left of
the line, the Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania and
Twelfth Massachusetts on the right, and form
ing the left wing of each regiment in rear of the
right wing, the two lines of the brigade moved
out to the attack.
The first forward step developed the well-
directed fire of the enemy, but through a shower
of bullets, for more than a quarter of a mile, the
forward step was maintained. Still moving on
up the slope of Laurel Hill, the summit was at
last gained, and the line of rifle-pits that crowned
its crest gallantly carried. Beyond a reach of
broad open ground were now to be seen exten-
336 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
sive earthworks tilled with artillery. Advancing
within a hundred yards of these intrenchments
all further progress was impossible. The troops
had fought their way to that point, not with en
thusiastic cheers, but with steady and persistent
determination. Colonel Coulter reported to
General Crawford that he had taken the rifle-
pits of the enemy, but could go no further.
"Tell the colonel to hold the line where he
is," was the reply.
And though the rebel artillery swept the area
in our front, and a severe musketry tire was
concentrated upon the men, the line was held
from noon until five o clock. Two brigades of
Gibbons s Division, Second Corps, then came to
our relief, and Coulter s Brigade retired twenty
or thirty yards to the rear. With the line thus
reinforced, an hour later there was a second at
tempt to carry the enemy s position ; but no ad
vance could be made beyond the ground already
secured. At dusk the Pennsylvania Reserves
were sent to the right of Gibbons, and Coulter s
Brigade ordered back within the breastworks,
where we are at present resting. When we
marched out from these defenses this morning
the brigade numbered nine hundred men. Two
hundred and twenty-nine have been killed and
wounded in the narrow space in our front of less
than half a mile.
THURSDAY, May 12. Another unsuccessful
THE ELEVENTH ON LAUREL HILL. 337
attempt has been made to dislodge the enemy
from Laurel Hill. Yesterday and last night
were occupied in remodeling and extending our
defenses. After dark, in the midst of a heavy
rain-storm, the Second Corps commenced mov
ing toward the left, leaving our brigade on the
extreme right flank. This morning dawned
with fierce fighting in front of Spottsylvania,
the roar of musketry passing slowly from left
to right until every part of the line was engaged.
At the hight of the battle, Coulter s Brigade
was ordered to the support of the Pennsylvania
Reserves, who were seen a moment before
to pass over the intrenchments to attack the
rebels in front. The Reserves hardly reached
the crest of the hill until the same staggering
fire that told so fearfully upon our ranks on the
morning of the 10th, was again experienced.
The enemy was as strong and watchful as- ever.
Following after the first line, and a little to the
right of its former position, the brigade ad
vanced a short distance beyond the Reserves,
the men protecting themselves from the rebel
fire by the peculiar formation of the ground.
Toward noon we were again withdrawn to the
intrenchments, but leaving behind on that fatal
hill, as an additional sacrifice to its evil genius,
seventy-five men.
SATURDAY, May 14. The uncertainty hanging
over all our movements since we crossed the
29
338 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Rapidau, and which has been a serious check to
the esprit de corps of the army, begins to clear
away. The troops had not ceased cheering over
Hancock s successes on the left, in capturing
Johnson s entire Division, when Grant s dis
patch to the Secretary of War, in which he pro
poses to " fight it out on this line if it takes all
summer," aroused them to the highest pitch of
enthusiasm. Now we have the congratulatory
order of General Meade, stating in brief what
has already been done, and what there remains
yet to do. On the heels of this comes a rumor
that Sheridan s cavalry is operating in rear of
the rebel lines, tearing up the railroads and
burning depots of supplies. But these successes
do not make us insensible of our own great
losses. The Fifth Corps, as it is now seen,
looks scarcely larger than did Robinson s Divi
sion ten days ago.
Since crossing the Rapidan we have lost Gen
erals Hays, AVadsworth, Sedgwick, Stevenson,
and Rice. A Pennsylvanian and a resident of
Pittsburg, General Alex. Hays was a personal
friend of the officers of the Eleventh, admired
by all as a brave and accomplished soldier. At
Mine Run, as the troops were in line of battle,
awaiting the word to charge the enemy s works,
the general remarked: "I don t like the look
of things around here. This is the only place
in Virginia where I have not wanted to fight."
MOVING TO THE LEFT. 339
It is not a little singular that he should have
met his death so near that same locality. The
rebels have lost Generals Jenkins, Jones, Gor
don, and Perrin. Long-street was severely
wounded on the evening of the 6th; and it is
rumored that J. E. B. Stuart was killed in a
fight with Sheridan. There is a spirit of hope
fulness throughout our ranks that will carry the
men along with their indomitable leader.
XEAR SPOTTSYLVANIA, May 16. Leaving the
Twelfth Massachusetts and Eleventh Pennsyl
vania on the picket line in front of Laurel Hill,
the rest of the brigade, following in the wake of
the division, on the evening of the 14th moved
toward the left. It was a dark, rainy night, and
the muddy roads and swollen streams made the
march full of weariness to men already worn
down with incessant labors. Yesterday after
noon, the two regiments left on picket having
rejoined the brigade, we were placed in position
near the Anderson House, holding now the ex
treme left of the army, as we formerly held the
extreme right. It is a relief to know that we
are quite out of the Wilderness; but the ground
in front is rough and uneven, covered with a
heavy growth of timber. On every command
ing position is a rebel fortification, from which
defiantly floats the Confederate flag.
THURSDAY, May 19. During the last three
days the lines of the army have been several
340 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
times changed to meet the impetuous assaults
of the rebels, who seem stung to the quick by
operations in their front and rear. Tuesday af
ternoon the brigade crossed the River Xy, and
moved up nearer Spottsylvania, taking position
to the left of the First Division, and in support
of Cooper s Pennsylvania Battery. All night
long the men worked with pick and shovel
tools with whose use they have grown familiar
intrenching themselves on their new ground.
It was a wise precaution ; for with the morning
of the 18th the rebels opened a heavy cannon
ade. But the shells buried themselves in the
newly constructed sand-banks, or harmlessly
ricochetted from the fallen timber in our front,
while a squad of riflemen, hiding behind the
logs, and picking off with unerring certainty
every gunner that showed himself above the
parapet, kept in silence one of their most effec
tive batteries.
Toward 10 o clock P.M., making a sally on the
pickets in front of our brigade, the rebels pushed
back the line for more than a hundred yards.
While bringing up supports, and in the act of
advancing the troops to re-establish the picket
lines, Colonel Coulter was shot through the
body and taken to the rear. Apparently satis
fied with testing the strength of the force in his
front, the enemy retired, and everything re
mained quiet until a few hours ago. A part of
GRANT MARCHING SOUTHWARD. 341
E well s Corps, crossing the Ny at a point above
our extreme right, moved down to the Freder-
icksburg road, thus seizing the main line of our
communications. The Eleventh was hurried
along for two miles toward Fredericksburg, at a
double-quick. But the work of driving back
Ewell was accomplished by Tyler s foot artiller
ists; and leaving it to others to keep up the pur
suit, we returned to our intrenchments on the
left. The brigade is under command of Colonel
Bates, of the Twelfth Massachusetts.
ACROSS THE PAMUNKEY, May 28. The events
of the last nine days, though so full of signifi
cance, have been crowded upon each other in
rapid succession. Noiselessly as the Second
Corps, preceded by a large force of cavalry,
marched some distance to the rear of our posi
tion in front of Spottsylvania, at midnight of
the 20th, it did not escape the notice of the
men. It was the beginning of another move by
the left flank. Xext morning the Fifth Corps
was following the Second, in easy supporting
distance, over the road leading to Guinney s
Station, where we bivouacked on the night of
May 21st, driving away a small body of rebel
cavalry. On the morning of the 22d, Colonel
Bates s Brigade was ordered to make a recon-
noissance toward the Telegraph road, three miles
from the station. It was a slow and cautious
march, our flanks well protected by trusty skirm-
29*
342 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
ishers. Not an enemy was to be seen ; he too
was moving southward. Some hours later,
striking the Telegraph road, the Fifth Corps
marched to Bowling Green, the county seat of
Caroline County. The dreary "Wilderness, and
the scarcely less dreary region of Spottsylvania,
where for two weeks, day and night, we had
been fighting or intrenching, were left behind
us, and the beautiful county of Caroline, without
a mark of war s ravages upon its fair face, was a
feast to the eye and a joy to the soul. Quitting
our bivouac near Bowling Green early Monday
morning, and passing in the march the Second
Corps halted at Milford, the Fifth Corps reached
Jericho Ford, on the North Anna River, near
the hour of noon. The enemy was not expect
ing us so high up the river; but Hancock s guns,
afterward heard further to the left, gave warning
by their thunders that the rebels had neither
been deceived by our movements nor surprised
at our advance. Unconquerable as ever, their
gray-clad legions formed in battle-line across our
path to Richmond.
The Fifth Corps crossed the North Anna at
Jericho Ford without opposition, and marching
a short distance down the south bank to a copse
of woods, formed its battle-line with Cutler on
the right, Griffin in the center, and Crawford on
the left. Time was when the first thing to be
done after a halt was to make coffee, in whose
FIFTH CORPS ON THE NORTH ANNA. 343
grateful fumes all weariness was forgotten. Now
the first thing the men do is to intrench. We
had but commenced this necessary work when
the center division was furiously assaulted by a
heavy rebel column. The attack soon spread all
along the line. But with intrenchments incom
plete, the rebels were repulsed at every point,
leaving in our hands not less than a thousand
prisoners.
Tuesday morning an interval of three miles
was discovered between Hancock on the left, who
had bravely fought his way across the river at
Chesterfield bridge, and the Fifth and Sixth
Corps on the right. The First Regiment of
Pennsylvania Reserves was sent down the stream
with orders to form a connection with the right
of Hancock s line. Moving stealthily along the
rocky bed of the river, concealed from view by
its high bank, the regiment reached Quarrel s
Ford, to find all further progress impossible, and
the enemy closed in upon its rear. General War
ren then ordered Crawford to advance his entire
division to find the lost regiment, and to com
plete the connection with Hancock. With the
Second Brigade on the left, the Eleventh march
ing next to the river, our line was advanced
against a desultory fire from the rebel pickets.
The Reserves were found in communication with
Burnside s troops, just arrived, and posted on the
north bank. The uncovering of Quarrel s Ford,
344 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
thus effected, made a passage for the Ninth.
Corps, whose divisions at once passed over the
river, and tilling up the gap, by nightfall Craw
ford had returned to his place on the right.
After two days of unsuccessful effort to carry
the enemy s position, Thursday night, under
cover of the thick clouds that were scudding the
sky, the Fifth Corps recrossed the North Anna,
Daylight of Friday, following after the Sixth
Corps, we were marching down the north bank.
Traveling eastwardly for two or three hours, the
impression became general that the army was
making a retrograde movement. Again we
changed course to the westward, and at last to
the southward, bivouacking at night five miles
from the Pamunkey. This morning when we
came to the river it was spanned by pontoon
bridges; the cavalry and the Sixth Corps were
already on the opposite side, and filing down the
slippery banks, made so by half an hour s rain,
and over the trembling foot-walk, the Army of
the Potomac was again on the Yorktown Penin
sula.
SUNDAY, May 29. There has been nothing of
the quiet or sanctity of the Sabbath in any of our
movements to-day. From early morning until
this late evening hour, cavalry, infantry, and ar
tillery have been marching, now cautiously in
line of battle, and again Hying in squadrons,
or quickly moving in columns of division.
ALONG THE CHICKAHOMINY. 345
Leaving our bivouac at an early hour, the
corps began its advance toward the Chickahom-
iny, Crawford on the left, Cutler in the center,
and Griffin on the right, and thus forming the
left of the array. The route has been along the
Grove Church turnpike, the enemy s skirmish
line falling slowly back as we continued forward.
The entire army is to-night in battle-line near the
Chickahominy River. On the left of the Elev
enth are the Pennsylvania Reserves. Xear the
camp-fire where we write, a group of officers and
men are recounting incidents that occurred two
years ago, as the army of General McClellan
marched over this same ground to the battle of
Mechanicsville. There are frequent shots on the
outlying picket posts, that seem to speak of the
probabilities of to-morrow; but there is no flinch
ing anywhere among the troops. "We have fought
our way once more to the gates of Richmond,
and this time with a persistency that must sooner
or later carry us through them.
^"EAR COLD HARBOR, Monday, June 6. This
is the eighth day of the battle of Cold Harbor,
and the end is not yet. With the first dawn of
Monday, May 30th, starting from beds on the
ground, and shaking the dew from their blank
ets, the ranks of the Fifth Corps were formed for
a speedy advance. Crawford s Division moved
directly forward across the road to Shady Grove
Church for the Mechanicsville pike, driving back
346 STORY OF THE REQIMENT.
in its progress a body of rebel cavalry. But it
soon came to be known that there was something
more than horsemen in our front that the whole
of E well s Corps held a position to cover all the
approaches to the upper bridges of the Chicka-
hominy. Detaching a division from his left, and
marching it in rear of his line of troops, the rebel
general had attempted to seize the Mechanies-
ville pike, and thus strike our undefended flank.
The movement was at once detected, and a
brigade of the Reserves sent out to meet it.
Penetrating as far as Bethesda Church, the Re
serves were met by the head of the rebel column
as it emerged from a narrow strip of woods, and
the fierce encounter in which we are still engaged
was there begun. Soon the whole division moved
to the left, and around that quiet church, hitherto
resting in undisturbed repose in a grove of beau
tiful oak trees, for many hours there was an an
gry clashing of arms, and a thundering of artil
lery. The rebels came to the attack in double
lines, exposing themselves with reckless daring
to the unerring tire of our batteries, whose shot
and shell made great and frequent gaps in their
ranks. Six o clock in the evening the conflict
extended along the whole front of the Fifth
Corps, the enemy concentrating all his efforts to
carry that portion of the line. But the troops of
those war-tried brigades were immovable, and
despite the most passionate and earnest charges,
COLD HARBOR AND BETHESDA CHURCH. 347
in which the Confederates revealed the spirit that
inspires men fighting in the last straits, those
lines maintained an unbroken front, and when
night closed down upon the battle-field the po
sition was securely held.
Tuesday, the 31st, was comparatively quiet
until late in the afternoon, when the battle
broke out afresh still further to the left. It was
Sheridan s cavalry fighting for the important
point of Cold Harbor, that was only wrested
from the enemy after a severe struggle. June
1st the Eighteenth Corps arrived from Butler s
Department, and formed in line to the left of the
Fifth Corps. During the night of the 31st the
Sixth Corps had also been moved to the left, and
on the morning of the 2d of June the Fifth Corps
was the extreme right of the line, which now
extended from Cold Harbor to Bethesda Church.
In forming this new line there had been more
or less of fighting at different points; but true to
the promises of these preparatory moves, Friday,
June 3d, witnessed the contest renewed with a
fierceness beyond all precedent. Hancock s first
gun on the left was speedily answered from the
extreme right, and everywhere along the ex
tended line there were the sounds of desperate
battle. Late in the afternoon the Eleventh was
sent out on the picket line. It was taken by the
enemy to be an advance of the division on his
position, and subjected the regiment to a fire so
348 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
direct and certain that in hardly as many feet
across the open ground four of the men were
killed and a number wounded. No impression
whatever was made upon the rebel position on
the right, and scarcely any on the left, where the
fighting was more severe. The night of the 3d
and most of the 4th of June were occupied by
the troops in throwing up intrenchments, as
though the enemy s works were to be carried
by regular siege.
The showery afternoon of Saturday was fol
lowed by a dark and cloudy evening. It was
one of those nights when the soldier feels like
early wrapping himself up in his blanket to rest;
and it was a fitting night for the enemy, ever
watchful and sagacious, to make a furious attack
upon our lines. Deeper than midnight thunder
peeled forth the cannon; while the burning
shells, coursing through the air, looked like
angry meteors escaped from their orbits. The
assault did not reach the front of the Fifth
Corps; but as the men stood in their places,
ready for the word of command, they joined in
the loud hurrah that told again and again of the
repulse of the foe. The attack had been de
ferred too long. If we could not drive the
Southerner from his strong earthworks, we were
not to be driven from our own. Behind its in
trenchments either army was unconquerable.
Last night was not unlike Saturday night in the
MOVING BY THE LEFT FLANK. 349
black clouds that hung over the army. Under
cover of its darkness, again the enemy sallied
forth, this time, as before, on our extreme left.
In the midst of the heavy cannonading we drew
in our picket lines, and leaving the position near
Bethesda Church, the corps marched slowly to
ward the left.
The Eleventh is now on the right of the line,
which rests near Gaines s Mills, while the left
extends to Cold Harbor. The troops of the Sec
ond and Eighteenth Corps are between us and
the enemy. Whether the corps are thus massing
for a linal assault upon the rebel lines, or a new
flank movement is to be inaugurated, will soon
be known.
SOUTH OF THE JAMES, Thursday, June 16. It
has a strange sound to say south of the James.
From the point where we entered the Peninsula
to that of our exit is fifty miles. We could have
made the distance in two days march, if nothing
had opposed our progress, whereas it has con
sumed nearly three weeks. In less than two
years history has so far repeated itself as to re-
enact nearly all the prominent scenes of the first
Peninsular campaign. Chickahominy Swamps,
Gaines s Mills, Cold Harbor, Harrison s Landing
names familiar, and of enduring associations,
for the moment pushing aside Antietam, Fred-
ericksburg, Chancellorville, Gettysburg claim
again their first absorbing interest.
850 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Five days were spent in comparative quiet
near Cold Harbor, the men working in details at
digging rifle-pits and throwing up intrench-
ments. Saturday morning, June llth, the march
of the Fifth Corps began, Crawford s Division
leading the corps, and itself led by Wilson s Divi
sion of cavalry. The route was down the Pen
insula, and the purpose to effect a crossing of the
Chickahominy at Long Bridge. The Confederate
general was also extending his line eastward, and
on the morning of the loth, when the brigade
reached the bridge, a force of the rebels already
held possession. It was only a small force, how
ever, that quickly retired at our approach. Cross
ing the Chickahominy and filing out into the
!N"ew Market road, the division changed the di
rection of its march and moved toward Rich
mond. In less than an hour, and within a mile
or two of White Oak Swamp, our line of battle
was confronted by a line of the enemy. There
was a mutual halt, each army again throwing up
intrenchments and preparing for an attack.
While the Fifth Corps thus lay stretched across
the only road by which General Lee could assail
our flank, the other corps were crossing the
Chickahominy at points lower down, and with
out opposition moving toward the James. When
night came on our picket line was quietly aban
doned, and falling into ranks, the Fifth Corps
was bringing up the rear of the army. The
HARRISON S LANDING. 351
march was continued all night and until eleven
o clock of Tuesday, when we halted near Charles
City Court House.
This morning, all the wagon trains having
passed on to the James River, we left our bi
vouac and marched to Harrison s Landing. The
steamer John Brooks ferried the Eleventh across
the magnificent river to Windmill Point. The
men are now disembarking, and stacking arms
on the nearest ground. The Army of the Poto
mac is at its watering-place, and ten thousand
bathers crowd the beach.
CHAPTER III.
SOUTH OF THE JAMES RIVER,
THE Army of the Potomac had not yet reached
its resting-place. The campaign north of the
James, though bitter and bloody beyond any
thing that had ever preceded it, without any
abatement of these terrible qualities, was to be
continued over the territory south of it. A halt
of an hour or two, and the bugle-note, familiar
as ever, though echoed from strange and un
known surroundings, called the men into lines,
352 . STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
and the march was continued toward Peters
burg, now the objective point of the campaign.
Contending with an opponent ever on the de
fensive, and fighting always on his own ground,
Grant had so far failed of his original intention to
invest Richmond from the west, and connect his
lines with those of Butler at Bermuda Hundred,
that he now resolved to siege Petersburg, and
thus cut off the rebel army, pent up in its capi
tal, from all sources of supply except the solitary
line of the James River Canal.
The Eighteenth Corps, that came in transports
from White House Landing, on the York River,
to City Point, on the James, and the Second
Corps, the first to cross from the Peninsula, were
already in front of Petersburg. The Ninth Corps
was en route for the same destination, two or
three hours in advance, when the Fifth Corps
began its march from the river shore. Diverg
ing to the left of the direct route, and following
the road to Prince George Court House, the last
rays of the setting sun had melted into twilight
as we took our position on the left of the line
now formed in front of Petersburg, the right of
the Eleventh connecting with the Ninth Corps.
The golden moment to carry Petersburg by an
unexpected attack passed away with the night of
the 15th. It was then held by only a small force
of home-guards. But clearly divining Grant s
designs, Lee had crossed the James at Drury s
IN FRONT OF PETERSBURG. 353
Bluff, and every subsequent hour witnessed a
fresh arrival of his veteran divisions. The 17th
was spent in adjusting our lines and preparing
for a general assault on the following morning.
Toward nightfall Crawford s Division advanced
with the Ninth Corps, and gaining some ground
in front, captured a number of prisoners and the
battle-flag of an Alabama regiment.
The morning of June 18th opened clear and
bright, revealing in its first light the spires of
Petersburg, and wafting on its fresh, balmy air
the sound of bells, ringing out their alarm in the
ears of the anxious inhabitants of the beleaguered
city. It was five o clock, and orders having
passed along the lines, from the right of the
Eighteenth Corps, on the Appomattox, to the
Fifth Corps, opposite Cemetery Hill, on the left,
the skirmishers advanced to the grand assault.
But the intrenchments, filled with armed men
only the night before, and in whose front many
a soldier expected to die, were now empty. The
enemy had taken up a new line nearer to the
city, and more securely defended than the outer
line.
Instead of a general assault, as at first intended,
a new order of battle was devised. The attack
was to be made in columns at different points
along the enemy s works. Speedily as possible
the troops were distributed, and beginning on
the right, the fearful work soon extended to all
30*
354 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
the corps. The Fifth and the Xinth, moving
out from their intrenchments, and passing over
ground whose surface was crossed by deep and
numerous ravines, made their daring but unsuc
cessful assault against that part of the Confed
erate line afterward the scene of the mine explo
sion. The repulse of the Federal army was
general. Enfilading fires of infantry and artil
lery swept through our columns, leveling the
ranks and with frightful suddenness depleting
our numbers.
The same persistency of purpose, seen in all
the movements of the Federal army north of
the James, was still apparent. Moving up to and
beyond the abandoned works of the enemy, the
morning of the 19th found the Union troops be
hind intrenchments as unyielding as those of the
foe. The lines of the opposing armies, in many
places, were scarcely a hundred yards apart, and
for several succeeding days the conflict on either
side was committed to the sharpshooters, who
picked off every man that showed himself above
the parapets. Men and officers lived in bomb
proof quarters, and moved to the rear, or from
right to left, through covered ways.
As the line of earthworks became more sys
tematic and complete, daily attempts were made
to extend our left flank, and more certainly en
velop the communications of Lee. But every
day only brought out more clearly the conviction
EXPLOSION OF FORT PEGRAM. 355
that the enemy had lost nothing of his watchful
ness, and that for every advantage gained we
must pay the price in men.
The mining of Fort Pegram, opposite the
Ninth Corps, began on the 25th of June. Its
conception belonged to a Pennsylvania!! Colo
nel Henry Pleasants and its entire construction
devolved upon a Pennsylvania regiment. The
want of entire success attending the enterprise
does not detract in the least from its merits as
a wonder of perseverance and industry. The
length of the main gallery was five hundred and
twenty-two feet, and that of the laterals forty
feet. For want of wheel-barrows, the excavated
earth was carried out in cracker boxes, and in
geniously concealed from the prying look of the
enemy.
Through many discouragements, the mine was
at last finished, and the 30th of July fixed for its
explosion. It was to be the signal of another
grand assault. Every gun along the whole Fed
eral line was to open upon the enemy, while the
Eighteenth Corps, on the right of the Ninth, and
the Fifth Corps on the left, were to be drawn up
in line of battle, ready to rally to the support of
Burnside as soon as his divisions succeeded in
carrying the crest of Cemetery Hill.
The orders were received the night before, and
at the hour appointed half-past three the can
nons were charged, and the troops formed in line.
356 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
A defect in the fuse delayed the explosion for
more than an hour. It seemed almost an age
to men eager to behold the result, and who
stood with one foot advanced, ready to leap over
the parapets at the first appearance of success.
At last it came a low, rumbling sound, which
made the ground to shake with a sudden tremor,
and then a heavy report, that seemed like distant
thunder. Quickly following was the more dread
ful roar of hundreds of cannon, lighting up a
line of miles in extent with a sheet of flame.
Along the entire front the supports moved for
ward, while forth from their intrenchments
poured the storming party of the Xinth Corps.
By the explosion of the mine a strong fort was
converted into a deep and extended fissure, in
which three batteries of the enemy and not less
than two hundred of his men found a sepulture.
Paralyzed by the disaster, and fearful of other
explosions, for a time the enemy was powerless,
and a gap was made in his lines through which we
might have secured the coveted city. But it was
only for a moment. The divisions of the Xinth
Corps, pausing at the crater instead of pushing
on to Cemetery Hill, gave the enemy time to re
cover from his surprise From right to left he
gathered up his forces, and turning his guns upon
the gap through which the confused masses of
Union troops were vainly endeavoring to force
their way, the crater became the burial place of
FIGHT FOR THE WELDON RAILROAD. 357
more than two hundred rebels. Before the at
tacking column returned to the intrenchments
four thousand men of the Federal army were
killed and wounded.
The reverses in our immediate front did not
prevent a gradual extension of our lines south
ward. For several days the Fifth Corps had been
constantly veering toward the left, until toward
the middle of August, the camp of the Eleventh
was within three miles of the Weldon Railroad,
one of the chief sources of supply of the Con
federate army. The whistle of the locomotive
arid the rattling of the trains could be distinctly
heard in their passage to and from Petersburg,
now laden with commissary stores, and again
with troops. A happy combination of move
ments calling the attention of Lee north of the
James River, promised success to an effort to se
cure this road, and thus lessen the resources of
the Southern commander.
The enterprise was committed to the Fifth
Corps, throughout whose camps cartridge-boxes
were replenished, and rations for four days issued
to the men. The march began on Thursday
morning, August 18th, Griffin s Division in the
advance, and Crawford s following in his rear.
Two hours of slow and steady marching brought
us to the railroad, when, changing direction, and
moving toward Petersburg, the work of tearing
up the track was prosecuted with vigor.
358 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
The thin line of the enemy, met early in the
morninsr, had fallen back before our advance.
O
But the great clouds of dust, rising between us
and the city, told of the approach of such a body
of troops as would contest any further progress.
It proved to be Hill s Corps moving down the
railroad in line of battle, and presenting indeed
a formidable barrier across our path. Securing
the position we had already gained, at six o clock
p. M. the divisions of Crawford and Ayres were
ordered forward. The enemy at once developed
a strong line in front of Crawford, but it was a
mere feint, for, massing to the left of Ayres, Hill
fell upon that extreme flank with one of his
strongest divisions, capturing many prisoners,
and driving back the entire line.
It was now night, and the falling rain made it
pitchy dark. There were few alarms until after
daylight of the 19th, with whose first dawning
the men of Crawford s Division began the erec
tion of earthworks, to protect their flank and
front. All forenoon reinforcements were reach
ing the enemy, and everywhere along the line he
was testing the strength of our position. We
might have concluded that a thorough examina
tion only revealed the folly of assaulting a
strongly intrenched line. But General Lee is
reported as saying that the AVeldon Railroad
must be regained that day if it cost him one-half
his army, and at four o clock in the afternoon
CRAWFORD S RIGHT GIVES WAY. 359
those rebel troops came rushing down upon us
with yells and hurrahs, only a proper accom
paniment for the volleys of their rifles.
There was a gap between the left of the main
line of the army, resting on the Jerusalem plank-
road, and the right of Crawford s Division, held
by the Third Brigade, discovered by the enemy,
through which he was pouring his regiments,
until completely carrying away our right flank,
he had swept quite into our rear, taking in his
track nearly all of four regiments, the Ninetieth
and One-hundred-and-seventh Pennsylvania, and
the Ninety-fourth and One-hundred-and-fourth
New York. It was a moment when confusion
worse confounded had come again, threatening
not only the loss of our hold on the railroad, but
of most of the corps.
Fortunately Colonel Wheelock, for the time in
command of Baxter s Brigade, with characteris
tic gallantry, ordered his command to change
front, and charging upon the rebels at the same
time that each regiment delivered a terrible vol
ley of musketry at short range, retrieved the for
tunes of the day. The enemy broke and fled
with an astonishment equal to that caused by his
own daring flank movement, leaving in our hands
numerous prisoners, besides hundreds of our own
men captured a moment before, and on their way
to the rebel rear.
The standard of the Ninety-fourth New York,
360 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
wrested from the color-bearer as he lay on the
ground wounded, was retaken by Captain James
Noble, of the Eleventh, and restored to the reg
iment. Private George W. Reed, of Co. E, in a
hand to hand conflict, captured the flag of the
Twenty-fourth North Carolina Regiment, and
was awarded a medal of honor by the Secretary
of War.
Our front line had now given way, and though
the Confederate loss in men was as great as our
own, the grasp by which we held the railroad,
the prize for which we had been contending, was
considerably weakened. At that opportune mo
ment reinforcements from the Ninth Corps came
up. Our ranks were at once reformed, and by a
charge full of the old enthusiasm, the lost ground
was regained. The enemy fell back to the in-
trenchments from which he had so defiantly
marched three hours before, disappointed and
defeated.
The morning of the 20th of August found a
strong line of earthworks along the entire front
held by the Fifth Corps, and the gap through
which the enemy executed his flank movement,
filled by a division of the Ninth Corps. Heavy
clouds poured forth a constant rain during most
of the day, and though there was sharp firing
among the skirmishers, the rebels seemed indis
posed to repeat the assault of Friday. Sunday
morning came, wearing a smile of loveliness on
WELDON RAILROAD SECURE. 361
the clear sky and in the balmy air. The first
look at the Southern lines revealed an intention
to renew the attack. The Weldon Railroad was
of too much importance to be yielded up without
a further effort.
Half-past eight o clock, treating 9 us first to a
storm of shell from well-posted artillery, Lee ad
vanced his columns for a final assault. There
was no faltering anywhere along that rebel line.
But it was too late. Waiting behind earthworks
that could not be stormed, our men reserved
their fire until the furious foe came within the
measure of certain death. Then cannon and
musketry shot forth their contents, sweeping
down whole ranks at each separate discharge.
It was too late. The Federals held secure
possession of the Weldon Railroad. The rations
in Lee s army were at once reduced from half a
pound of bacon and a pound and a quarter of
meal per man, daily, to one-fourth pound of
bacon and three-fourths pound of meal.
31
362 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER IV.
ADVANCES AND RETROGRADES.
THE days that followed the occupation of the
"Weldon Railroad were as prolific as ever in ac
tive movements against the rebels. Xow north
of the James, and again south of it; now in But
ler s Department, and again on the left as far
as Reams s Station and Rowanty Creek, there
were advances and retrogrades, skirmishes and
battles.
The month of September and the greater part
of October wore away in these various enter
prises, and in extending the strong line of re
doubts to Fort Dushane, the extreme southern
flank held by Baxter s Brigade. Presuming still
more upon the beautiful weather of that fine au
tumnal month, on the 27th of October a new
movement was undertaken, having for its object
the extension of our lines to Hatcher s Run. It
was a blow threatening the Southside Railroad,
and aroused all the vigilance of the Southern
O
commander. The expedition was unsuccessful,
and by the 1st of Xovember, after an absence of
six days, the corps were back again in the old
camps.
CHANGES IN THE ELEVENTH. 363
The campaign that opened with the crossing
of the Rapidan in May, ended with the expedi
tion to Hatcher s Run. It had continued through
six months, with an aggregate loss, on battle
fields, in skirmishes, on picket, and in the
trenches before Petersburg, of a hundred thou
sand men. The organization, not only of single
regiments, but of the entire army, was almost
radically changed. Xew recruits that were com
ing rapidly to the front prevented the ranks of
the Eleventh from falling at any time below two
hundred; but they were strange faces. Five
hundred men had been lost to the regiment
during the campaign ; many of them among the
killed; more of them disabled by wounds, and
still others of them in the hands of the enemy,
enduring the horrors of Andersonville and Salis
bury.
On the 5th of September Colonel Coulter re
commended the appointment of Captain B. F.
Haines to be major, vice Major Keenan, killed
at Laurel Hill; Sergeant Harrison Truesdale to
be first lieutenant of Co. B, vice Lieutenant
John P. Straw, killed at Cold Harbor; Corporal
Robert R. Bitner to be second lieutenant of
Co. B, vice Lieutenant Samuel "W. Phillips, dis
charged on account of disability; Sergeant Major
John A. Stevenson to be first lieutenant of Co.
C, vice Lieutenant John McClintock, discharged
on account of wounds; Sergeant William H.
364 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
McLaughlin to be second lieutenant of Co. C,
vice Lieutenant A. Schall, promoted; Second
Lieutenant James Moore to be first lieutenant
of Co D, vice Lieutenant Enos S. Hall, died of
wounds; Sergeant James R. Brown to be second
lieutenant of Co. D, vice Lieutenant James
Moore, promoted. On the 13th of October Sec
ond Lieutenant James J. Briggs was recom
mended to be first lieutenant of Co. E, vice
Lieutenant Samuel J. Hammil, discharged on
account of wounds; Sergeant Daniel Bonbright
to be second lieutenant of Co. E, vice Lieuten
ant Briggs, promoted. Immediate attention to
these appointments was urged, because four
companies were without commissioned officers
in the field, and the other companies had but one
officer each present for duty.
On the 1st of November Sergeant John Kyle
was recommended to be first lieutenant of Co.
I, vice Lieutenant W. A. Shrum, discharged on
account of wounds; Sergeant Lewis Mechling
to be second lieutenant of Co. I, vice Lieuten
ant Shrum, promoted. Again, later in the month,
the heavy loss in officers continuing to be felt,
Lieutenant John A. Stevenson was recommended
to be adjutant, vice Arthur F. Small, discharged;
Sergeant David Weaverling to be second lieu
tenant of Co. A, vice Lieutenant Allen S. Ja
cobs, promoted; Lieutenant William II. Mc
Laughlin to be first lieutenant of Co. C, vice
THE HICKSFORD RAID. 365
Lieutenant Stevenson, appointed adjutant; Ser
geant Henry I). Weller to be second lieutenant
of Co. C, vice Lieutenant McLaughlin, pro
moted; Lieutenant Robert Anderson to be reg
imental quartermaster, vice Lieutenant Allen S.
Jacobs, deceased; Lieutenant Samuel McCut-
cheon to be first lieutenant of Co. F, vice Lieu
tenant Anderson, appointed quartermaster ; Ser
geant James T. Cook to be second lieutenant
of Co. F, vice Lieutenant McCutcheon, pro
moted.
The reorganizing of the broken ranks of the
old Eleventh was not only necessary, but timely.
A new raid was to be made by the Fifth Corps
on the AVeldon Railroad. Although our lines
crossed it within six miles of Petersburg, it
was known that the enemy was procuring large
supplies for his troops by way of this road to
Stony Creek, whence they were conveyed in
wagons to Petersburg. The Fifth Corps, with
the Third Division of the Second Corps, and
Gregg s cavalry, were detailed effectually to de
stroy the road as far south as the town of Hicks-
ford, on- the Meherrin River.
The march commenced on Wednesday, the
7th of December. It was a dull winter morning
as the troops filed out along the Jerusalem plank-
road. Various indeed were the conjectures as
to the probable destination of the column, carry
ing on the persons of its troops six days rations.
31*
366 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
At one time the movement was pronounced a
reconuoissance toward the Southside road; at
another we were certainly to effect a union with
Sherman in Georgia.
The heavy clouds of the opening day realized
the promise of a rain-storm which lasted until
noon. Late in the afternoon the sun came out
bright and warm, sending a spirit of cheerfulness
throughout all the ranks. Crossing the Kotto-
way River a little stream not unlike the Upper
Rappahannock, that flows on toward 2s"orth Car
olina, and helps to form the Chowan River
nine o clock at night, we bivouacked at Sussex
Court House. A brick building, standing a
short distance from the road, and of unpreten
tious size, was pointed out as the place where in
other times Justice was dispensed according to
the code of Virginia. Six other buildings, every
one of them a good deal the worse for the wear,
completed the ancient and insignificant town.
Thursday morning, with the first streak of
gray dawn, the march was resumed. The quick
ear of the troops, awake to the perils of the un
dertaking, that increased with every advancing
mile, caught the first shot in front, that told of
the presence of the enemy. It was Gregg en
countering a party of rebel cavalry guarding the
railroad bridge across the river. Driving away
the guard and setting fire to the structure, the
work of destruction at once commenced. The
DESTROYING THE RAILROAD. 367
infantry struck the railroad four miles further
south, and lending willing hands to the cavalry,
by Friday night, from the Nottoway to the Me-
herrin, a distance of twenty miles, the Weldon
Railroad ceased to exist.
Each division did its appropriate part; de
stroying all in its immediate front, and then
moving alternately southward. The burning
ties, aided by the nearest fence rails, cast a lurid
light on the midnight heavens, telling to the Con
federate commander the story of ruin wrought;
while the heated rails, torn from the car track,
that many strong arms made to take the shape
and form of the distinguishing badge of the Fifth
Corps, may remain to this day to tell by whom
the ruin was wrought.
The country through which we passed differed
but little iii its general features from that in the
immediate vicinity of Petersburg. There were
no iritrenchments to be seen, nor anything to in
timate that two hostile armies were only a day s
march distant. The plantations were large and
frequent, with here and there fields of cotton,
still carrying their small, imperfect crop.
The most noticeable feature to the eye of the
soldier was the apparent plenty that dwelt in the
land. Chickens and turkeys, that were thought
to be extinct in Virginia, dwelt here prolific, in
ease and security; while the lowing of the cow
and the tinkling of sheep bells suggested that
368 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
V
quieter days than those that came to us still
dawned upon the world.
Breaking up our bivouac at Bellfield Station,
two miles from the Meherrin River, the return
march began in the early morning of December
10th. A cold, sleety rain had fallen during the
night, softening the roads, and making the move
ment slow and heavy. Crawford s Division was
the left of the column, with Baxter s Brigade and
a squad of cavalry as its rear-guard.
Our destructive operations had not proceeded
altogether unmolested. At different points the
enemy showed himself, and as his cavalry were
known to be following a short distance in our
rear, every precaution was taken to defend the
column against attack. Five miles from the
place of starting, the troops halted in a thick
woods, whose trees and overhanging branches
were an agreeable shelter from the cold north
wind that blew in keen and piercing blasts. Re
suming the march, and as the rear regiments
were moving out into the road, our cavalry guard,
driven in by the rebels, came rushing through
the ranks of the brigade in affrighted confusion,
breaking its files, and throwing the whole line
into disorder.
It was only momentary. A line of battle com
posed of four regiments the Eleventh Pennsyl
vania and Ninety-seventh New York on the left
of the road, the Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania and
A SUCCESSFUL AMBUSH. 369
Thirty-ninth Massachusetts on the right, each
regiment deploying skirmishers in its front was
thrown across the track of the pursuing enemy.
The cautious Confederates came near enough to
reconnoiter our lines, but not near enough to ex
change shots. Supported by infantry bayonets,
the cavalry recovered their courage, and falling
into ranks, the advance was continued.
Seven o clock in the evening the rebel cavalry,
that had followed us all day, was still hanging on
our flanks, with the evident purpose of attacking
some part of the column as we went into bivouac
for the night. But there were counter-move
ments going on, quietly and secretly, that entirely
defeated this purpose of our troublesome friends.
Halting near the camp of the division, by or
der of General Crawford, the Eleventh Pennsyl
vania, Ninety-seventh New York, and a part of
the Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania, formed in am
bush on either side and across the road. Favored
by the darkness of the evening and the shadow
of the pine woods through which a section of the
road passed, the men crouched down behind the
fences, and awaited the coming of the foe. The
strategy was explained to our cavalry, who, first
making a show of resistance, quickly retired,
pursued by the rebels, fifteen or twenty of whom
came within the ambush. It was a fatal trap for
more than half the number that entered it. At
a word, a volley of musketry issued from either
370 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
side of the road, lighting up the darkness with a
fitful glare, and carrying death and wounds to
those fearless rebel riders.
"If you had delayed a day longer," said one
of the wounded men, "you would not be march
ing back at your present leisure. A force is now
in pursuit with orders not to permit a single
raider to escape."
The knowledge of a pursuing foe had some
thing to do with the early sound of the bugle on
the following morning; and while the stars were
yet shining, the troops started off at a brisk walk
over ground frozen hard by the cold that had in
creased with every hour of the night. Late in the
afternoon, reaching the ^Tottoway liiver, a di
vision of the Xinth Corps was found halted on
the north bank. General Meade had read the
signals of the enemy in front of Petersburg, and
with the departure of the Confederate force to
intercept our return, sent Park s Division to re
inforce Warren. Three cheers from the south
side of the stream greeted those on the north
side ; and crossing on pontoons that were soon
made to span the river, two miles from its bank
the army encamped until next morning.
By sundown of Monday we were back again
in the old position on the Jerusalem plank-road.
More than a hundred miles had been traveled in
six days, and with a loss to the Eleventh of one
man severely wounded, and two missing, the
BACK AGAIN IN CAMP. 371
Hicksford raid resulted in the entire destruction
to the Confederates of the Weldon Railroad.
The Army of the Potomac quietly settled down
into winter quarters. Dense forests, once so dif
ficult to traverse, yielded to the sturdy blows of
the axe, and numerous log cabins, similar to those
erected north of the Rappahannock in the pre
ceding winter, were now seen covering miles of
territory where once stood the baronial dwellings
of the Randolphs and the Tuckers, and around
which transpired scenes and events that still live
in story.
CHAPTER V.
EXTENDING THE LEFT TO HATCHER S RUN.
THE advent of the year 1865, in the prepara
tions throughout the camps of infantry and cav
alry, gave notice of an early campaign. During
the several weeks of comparative quiet that fol
lowed the expedition to the Meherrin River, the
Eleventh was adjusting its broken ranks, and
preparing for the next offensive movements
against the rebels.
Major B. F. Haines was promoted to lieuten
ant-colonel, vice H. A. Frink, promoted to col-
372 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
onel of the One-hundred-and-eighty-second Regi
ment of Pennsylvania Volunteers ; Captain John
B. Overmyer was commissioned major ; Lieuten
ant James Moore was made captain of Co. D ;
Lieutenant James J. Briggs, captain of Co. E,
vice Henry B. Piper, discharged; Daniel Bon-
bright, first lieutenant of Co. E ; and Sergeant
Richard W. Morris, second lieutenant of Co. H.
Some time before the Hicksford raid, in De
cember, the members of the Ninetieth Penn
sylvania Regiment, who had re-enlisted as vete
rans, were transferred to the ranks of the
Eleventh. Belonging to the same division
and brigade, companions in the march from
Washington to Petersburg, side by side these
two regiments had fought in all the great
battles from Cedar Mountain to the Weldon
Railroad. The story of one, with but slight and
insignificant changes, is the story of the other.
It was eminently proper, at the close of the
original term of enlistment, on the retirement of
Colonel Peter Lyle and Lieutenant-Colonel Wil
liam A. Leech, together with a number of the line
officers men who did their whole duty nobly
and well that what remained of the Ninetieth
should be consolidated with the Eleventh.
With the opening of the month of February
the wind began to blow warm from the south.
Inspection of arms and accouterments had been
a part of the daily drill for more than a week,
OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN. 373
and on the evening of February 4th, when there
commenced all along the lines a tierce bombard
ment of the rebel works such as had not been
heard since the close of the fall campaign every
man knew that the time to march had come.
Three o clock Sunday morning, the shrill blast
of the bugle gave notice that Gregg s Division of
cavalry was in motion, moving down the Jerusa
lem plank-road. Two hours later, the Fifth
Corps was following the cavalry, marching along
the Halifax road, with Ayres s Division in the ad
vance, Griffin next, and Crawford in the rear.
Further to the right the Second Corps was
moving directly toward Hatcher s Run. The
Fifth Corps was intended to strike the enemy s
right, and so made a detour to the left; while the
Second Corps, marching along the Yaughan road,
would strike the enemy s works on Hatcher s
Run in front
Leaving the old camp on the Jerusalem plank-
road which had already served as the starting-
point for several important movements the
Eleventh marched in rear of the brigade.
Through the stupid blunder of an aid-de-camp,
the troops started out equipped for light march
ing, taking nothing with them but arms and ac-
couterments. In the afternoon a cold, pelting
rain-storm set in, continuing through most of
the night.
The bivouac on Dabney s plantation, across
32 "
374 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
Gravelly Run, presented a strange sight of men
crowded together around the camp-fires, with no
other protection than overcoats, and an occasional
gum blanket. Sleeping on the ground, in a win
ter rain-storm, is not well calculated to make men
amiable, and there was a disposition on the part
of many to express their wrath in hard words.
But there was also a vast deal of patient endur
ance among those men who covered up their
heads in the capes of their overcoats, and with
feet to the blazing camp-fire that was made to
burn despite the rain slept on until morning.
Next day the march was continued, Crawford s
Division crossing Hatcher s Run, and massing
along the bank of the stream. The Federal
battle-line was formed with the Second Corps on
the right, the Fifth Corps in the center, and the
cavalry on the left. Hatcher s Run flows in a
southeasterly direction, and at its junction with
Gravelly Run, forms the Rowanty Creek, a deep
but sluggish stream that flows into the Nottoway
River. The country around is low and swampy,
cut up by ravines, and covered with forests
traversed here and there by narrow country
roads.
Early in the morning the Second Corps carried
the first line of the enemy s works, and was
firmly established on Hatcher s Run, the left con
necting with the Fifth Corps. Two o clock P.M.
of February 6th, Crawford s Division recrossed
BATTLE OF HATCHER S RUN. 375
Hatcher s Run, and advanced three-fourths of a
mile toward Dabney s Mill, with the intent of
striking the Boydton plank-road. Baxter s Bri
gade was formed in two lines of battle, the Ninety-
seventh New York, Sixteenth Maine, and Thirty-
ninth Massachusetts in the first line, and the
Eleventh and Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania in the
second line.
Colonel Coulter had been breveted brigadier-
O
general, and was in command of the Third
Brigade. Lieutenant-Colonel Haines was serving
on General Crawford s staff as Inspector-General,
leaving the command of the Eleventh to Major
Overmyer.
Moving forward a quarter of a mile further,
the first line encountered Pegram s rebel division,
and in a moment Crawford s troops were in the
heat of battle. General Pegram was killed by
the first volley from our guns, and the ranks of
his division, missing the animating voice and
cheering presence of their gallant leader, were
pushed back in surprise and confusion.
In front of Crawford were the ruins of an old
saw-mill and a broad swamp; to the right of his
line was a strip of heavy forest. Moving a short
distance by the right flank, the Eleventh threw
up temporary breastworks within the cover of
the woods. But Evans s Division was sent to the
relief of Pegram, and no troops being on our
right, in which direction the enemy was bearing
STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
down in large force, the defenses were abandoned,
Crawford s line falling back some distance to the
rear.
The momentary lull in our ow r n rapid firing
brought to our ears the sound of battle as it was
raging on the right and on the left. Seeing the
enemy halt in the works we had just abandoned,
and encouraged by the report of heavy reinforce
ments coming up in the rear, Crawford s men
rallied, retook the works from the enemy, and
held them against a terrible fire.
The head of Ayres s Division, marching to
Crawford s relief, was now in plain view. But
before he could form his line on the right of the
Eleventh, the enemy struck his flank, and threw
him back on Hatcher s Run. Without support,
and the last round of ammunition expended by
the troops on the right, Crawford s line could
maintain itself no longer, and went down with the
giving way of Ayres.
Meanwhile Gregg, on the left, pressed on flank
and in rear by the rebel cavalry, was also driven
from his defenses, and forced to retreat beyond
Hatcher s Run. The enemy, still further rein
forced by Mahone s Division, followed the routed
Federals with fiendish shouts. Another disaster
on the left " the bloody left," as the troops called
it appeared inevitable, as the men, lost in the
woods, and entangled in the swamps and ravines,
made their uncertain way to the rear. But the
BATTLE OF HATCHER S RUN. 377
line of intrenchments thrown up by the Second
Corps, on the evening of the 5th and the morn
ing of the 6th, was a rallying point for the
troops, and from behind those works a fire was
poured into the eager Confederates that first
halted their lines, and then sent them back to
the cover of the woods. It was now dark night.
The noise of battle had ceased, and secure
within its defenses, the Federal line kept a firm
hold on Hatcher s Ran.
Early on the morning of February 7th, the
enemy showed himself in front of our infantry
and cavalry pickets, keeping up a heavy skirmish
fire for several hours, but making no attempt to
charge our lines. Toward noon Crawford s Di
vision, supported on the left by General Wheaton,
marched along the earthworks a mile to the right
of the Yaughan road. Debouching from the in
trenchments, the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts, of
Baxter s Brigade, supported by the Eleventh
Pennsylvania, was thrown forward as skirmish
ers. At the moment of marching out into com
paratively open ground, as though possessed with
the thought of testing the strength of our works
across the Vaughan road, a line of the enemy s
skirmishers was seen issuing from behind- tem
porary works, and moving toward us. The con
test between the skirmishers was short and de
cisive, resulting in the driving back of the rebels,
and the capture of their defenses.
32*
378 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
The Eleventh remained on the picket line un
til ten o clock P.M., and without attacking the
main line of the Confederates, Crawford retired
behind Hatcher s Run, where the division biv
ouacked until morning.
Throughout the livelong night was heard the
sound of the axe and the spade, as thousands of
workmen threw up strong and enduring in-
trenchments. On the afternoon of February 8th,
Baxter s entire brigade was sent out on picket.
But the enemy maintained a sullen silence. Con
tent to defend the Boydton plank-road against all
attacks, Hatcher s Bun was given up without a
further struggle, and on the morning of the 10th,
the Eleventh marched back to the old camp near
Jerusalem plank-road, losing in the first cam
paign of the new year eighty-nine officers and
men.
Two days later, the military railroad running
from City Point was extended to Hatcher s Run,
which thus became the extreme left of the Fed
eral battle-line, a success of no little importance
in the subsequent campaign.
FINAL CONCENTRATION. 379
CHAPTER VI.
FINAL CONCENTRATION.
THE extension of the left flank to Hatcher s
Run was followed by several weeks of almost en
tire inaction to the armies besieging Richmond
and Petersburg. But it was not inaction after
all ; it was the labor of patient waiting. Sher
man had completed his march from Atlanta to
the sea, and turning northward, the tramp of his
legions was heard moving across the Carolinas.
A second attempt had reduced Fort Fisher to a
Federal garrison, over whose parapets now waved
the old flag, while a column of brave troops,
thirty thousand strong, were marching inland
from Wilmington and JsTewbern to join Sherman.
One comprehensive mind was directing all the
parts, and the Army of the Potomac, beginning
the campaign on Hatcher s Run, was resting on
its arms, awaiting the Lieutenant-General s final
concentration.
For two or three days President Lincoln, and
a party of ladies and gentlemen from Washing
ton, had been the guests of General Grant. Be
fore returning to the capital, the President was
380 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
to review the army, throughout whose ranks ac
tive preparations were making for the event.
General officers sent to City Point for dress-coats,
and fancy horse trappings, that had been left
there as of no use at the front; while the men,
compelled to wear whatever the quartermaster
provided, burnished their muskets, and rubbed
to silvery brightness the brass plates of their ac-
couterments.
Daylight of March 25th the day appointed
for the review the troops were startled from
their bomb-proof sleeping apartments by firing
on the right. It was too early in the morning
for a salute, and the practiced ear of the soldier
detected in the thud of the distant guns some
thing more than the noise of a blank cartridge.
The click of the telegraph at Crawford s head
quarters, whose first anticipated message was an
order to fall in line for review, told of the rebel
attack on Fort Steadman, and an hour later the
division was marching at a quick step to the
right. Two divisions of the enemy, quietly mass
ing in front of the Ninth Corps, burst upon our
intrenchments, and capturing the fort, turned its
nine guns upon the adjacent batteries. It was a
brilliant achievement, but its success was short
lived. Rallying from all points of the Federal
line, the daring enemy was pushed out into
the space over which he came, now swept by
the cross-fire of a score of batteries right and
THE ARMY INCREDULOUS. 381
left of Steadman. There was no alternative but
to surrender, and two thousand prisoners were
sent to the rear. Thus the review was changed
into a hattle ; and Crawford s Division marched
back to its place on the left.
For three days after, the camps were all alive
with preparations for a general move. But when
the order came, on the 29th of March, there was
nothing borne on the wings of the wind, or seen
in the face of the sky, to indicate that the army
was beginning its last campaign. Rumors reached
us of the conference of generals at City Point,
and the union of the armies of Meade and Sher
man. But all that had been talked of many times
before. The rank and file had grown incredu
lous. Four years of war, while it made the men
brave and valorous, had entirely cured them of
imagining that each campaign would be the last.
Passing by the cooking apartment of regimental
headquarters, a soldier struck his musket against
the cracker-box, set up on a barrel to help the
draught of the chimney.
"Don t knock dat chimbly down, please, sah,"
was the polite expostulation of the cook. "We ll
be back here agin in a week, and I ll want to
use it."
But Struthers was a false prophet. That was
our last move from the old camp near the Jeru
salem plank-road.
Wednesday morning, March 29th, as early as
382 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
three o clock, the Fifth Corps was moving in the
direction of Dinwiddie Court House. Sheridan s
cavalry was in the advance, with instructions to
find the enemy s right, and, if possible, force
him from his intrenchments. Crawford s Divi
sion moved along the Halifax road, Baxter s
Brigade bringing up the rear. Time was when
the Eleventh alone would have made a show of
resistance quite equal in numbers to that pre
sented by the entire brigade. Neither through
volunteering nor drafting could the ranks be
kept up to more than a fourth of their original
strength for duty.
By noon we had passed the line of earthworks
on the left, and moving southward, crossed Row
an ty Creek, below the junction of Gravelly and
Hatcher s Run. Following the road to Dinwid
die Court House as far as the Quaker road, the
troops turned up the latter, and crossed Gravelly
Run. The line of the Fifth Corps was formed
with Griffin on the right, Ayres in the center, and
Crawford on the left. In front of the entire line
were the enemy s skirmishers, disputing every
step of our advance. But it was Griffin, near
the old saw- mill, that had the sharpest engage
ment, inflicting a severe loss upon the enemy,
and losing heavily himself. The left of the line,
not thus delayed, swung around further to the
front, until near its junction with the Quaker
road. The brigade commanded by General Coul-
BOYDTON PLANK-ROAD OCCUPIED. 383
ter was the first to lay its hands on the coveted
Boydton plank-road, and by early evening a
strong line of intrench ments was stretched
across it.
The rain that commenced falling in drenching
showers with the setting in of night, though it
did not prevent the men from extending the de
fenses, confined the operations of March 30th to
short advances and reconnoiterings along the
plank-road as far to the right as Burgess s Mill.
March 31st, the storm was over; but the whole
country round was one vast swamp, holding fast
in its quagmire everything on wheels. The only
exception to the fiat, marshy character of the
ground was the line held by the enemy, running
along the White Oak Ridge, whose tolerably good
road crossed the Boydton plank-road near Bur
gess s Mill, and continued on to Petersburg.
General Lee was not ignorant of Grant s move
ments on the left, and with heavy reinforcements
from Petersburg, was directing in person the
operations in our front. Toward eleven o clock a
brigade of Ayres s Division was sent out against
the enemy s skirmishers. The object was to
discover with what force he held the White
Oak road. Our troops had only advanced a few
hundred yards, when the repulse became gen
eral, and Winthrop s Brigade returned.
Meanwhile, the rebels were also contemplating
a forward move ; and seizing that as a favorable
884 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
moment, the Confederates fell upon Ayres, from
the north and the west, breaking his ranks and
forcing him back in confusion. Crawford s lines
were also carried down in the assault, both divi
sions falling back on Griffin, who was in position
along the bank of a small stream a branch of
Gravelly Run west of the plank-road. Four
hours later, with broken ranks reformed, Gen
eral Warren advanced the entire available force
of the Fifth Corps, driving the enemy back into
his intrenchments, capturing almost the whole of
the Fifty-sixth Virginia Regiment, with its com
plete stand of colors.
Sheridan and his cavalry bivouacked at Din-
widdie Court House March 29th. IText day a
reconnoissance toward Five Forks drove back
parties of the enemy s skirmishers, and devel
oped a strong force in position, holding the White
Oak road. Returning once more to Dinwiddie,
the troopers awaited the coming of March 31st.
Early Friday morning they were moving out
along the several roads concentrating at Din
widdie, to the attack of Five Forks. But
there were counter-movements from the rebel
side. As a military point, the Court House was
all-important, and must not be left in the hands
of the Yankees. Starting as early as Sheridan,
the enemy met him in the way with cavalry and
infantry.
The Fifth Corps was distant several miles from
REINFORCING SHERIDAN. 385
where the opposing forces first exchanged shots.
But the sound of battle could be distinctly heard,
and toward evening the receding noise suggested
the driving of our cavalry before the enemy.
Later in the day an officer of Sheridan s com
mand, cut off in an attack, found his way within
the lines of the Fifth Corps, confirming the sus
picion that the cavalry had been driven back to
Dinwiddie.
Army headquarters were all astir, and orders
quick and fast were transmitted to Warren. At
one time a brigade is ordered to be sent down the
White Oak road, and at another time down the
Boydton plank-road. One order directs Warren to
open communications with Sheridan ; by another
he is told to halt his troops at Gravelly Run.
Eight o clock, it was intimated in a confidential
note that the Federal battle-line would be con
tracted, and an hour after Warren was directed
to draw back two of his divisions within the
Boydton plank-road, sending the remaining divi
sion to report to Sheridan.
One o clock A.M. ot April 1st, it became known
that Sheridan could not maintain himself at Din
widdie without reinforcements, and as these could
only reach him from the Fifth Corps, its com
mander was urged to use every exertion to get
troops to him as soon as possible. The bridge
across the swollen stream of Gravelly Hun, now
too deep for infantry to ford, had to be rebuilt,
33
386 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
and with the first order to send troops to the re
lief of Sheridan, a pioneer force was set to work
spanning the creek.
Two o clock A.M., the bridge was completed,
and Ay res s Division reported to General Sheri
dan. The enemy that had driven Sheridan back
to Dinwiddie retired from his front during the
O
night and early morning of April 1st. With
drawing from White Oak Ridge in line of battle,
first Griffin and last Crawford marched in the
direction of the Court House, and by ten o clock
A.M. Sheridan was reinforced by the three divi
sions of the Fifth Corps.
CHAPTER VH.
FIFTH- CORPS WITH SHERIDAN.
THE movement of the Fifth Corps to Dinwid
die Court House was a part of Grant s general
plan, and placed Warren under the immediate
orders of General Sheridan, with whom he was
to co-operate.
Eleven o clock of April 1st, the three divisions
of Griffin, Ayres, and Crawford were in position
near Gravelly Run, looking toward the White
Oak road. The thick fog had cleared away, and
long lines of cavalry, soiled with mud, but with
GETTING INTO POSITION. 387
spirit and daring in every look and movement,
were seen marching in the direction taken by
the retiring Confederates. Two hours later Gen-
O
eral Warren was ordered to move his corps to
the front, the enemy having made a stand which
promised to be obstinate, behind formidable in-
trenchments at Five Forks.
Up to this moment General Lee seems to have
been in strange ignorance of the doings on his
right. Assured that with a knowledge of the
danger imperiling his flank would come rein
forcements, or a retreat, Sheridan, anxious to
improve the golden opportunity, was impatient
at the slightest apparent delay.
The roads were heavy with mud, and the men
worn down by four nights of marching and
battle. It may have looked like slow plodding,
as the troops crowded through that narrow lane,
leading past Gravelly Run Church to the White
Oak road. But they were doing all that men
depending upon their own legs alone could do,
and when they merged out into the open ground
upon which they were to act, the compact lines of
the old Fifth Corps told that the lessons learned
in the van of many important army movements,
since the crossing of the Rapidan a year before,
were not quite forgotten.
The right of the battle-line was given to Craw
ford s Division, and the left to Ayres, Griffin
forming his ranks behind Crawford. A hurried
388 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
survey of the ground in front enabled General
Warren to explain to his division and brigade
commanders the part that each one was expected
to perform. The cavalry was to attack in front,
while the infantry, crossing the White Oak road,
was to carry the enemy s flank and rear.
The lines moved out in splendid style. But a
faulty calculation as to the exact position of the
enemy s left flank, and the difficult nature of the
ground over which the troops were moving
through bogs, and tangled woods, and thickets
of pine threw Crawford too far to the right.
The assault intended to be made by the Third
Division, supported by Griffin, as a consequence
fell upon Ayres.
The first volley from the muskets of the in
fantry was the signal of attack for the cavalry in
front. It was now four o clock in the afternoon,
and though assailed on the flank and in front,
and threatened in the rear, the enemy made a
bold and gallant defense. Griffin came into the
gap between Ayres and Crawford, while the
latter, wheeling to the left, crossed the Ford road,
a country highway running through the center
of the enemy s position and directly in his rear.
It was not intended that the Federal line should
take such a formation, but it was this form alone
that made the battle of Five Forks such a com
plete victory. Staggered at first by the heavy fire
that struck their left flank, and unable for the
BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS. 389
thick woods and bushes to see the foe with whom
they were contending, Ayres s men faltered a
moment. But it was only for a moment. Re
covering from their surprise as they neared the
enemy s intrenchments, they charged his works
at a single bound, capturing hundreds of prison
ers and several flags. Joined by Griffin, who had
also wheeled to the left, both divisions went
sweeping down the line of rebel works toward
Five Forks. The cavalry was already on the
right flank, and it only needed Crawford to close
in upon the Ford road to cut off every avenue of
escape.
Crawford s line was formed with the First
Brigade on the right, the Second (Baxter) on the
left, and the Third (Coulter) in the rear. The
Third Brigade was soon ordered to the front, to
fill up the gap between our own and the Second
Division, bringing it next to the Eleventh Regi
ment, holding the left of Baxter s second line.
The fire of the enemy now became severe, espe
cially on Crawford s center and left. But shouts
and cheers, rising above the din of clashing
arms, were heard from every part of the field.
The moment had come for the final charge,
and riding to the right, Warren directed Craw
ford to move down the Ford road, and attack
the enemy in rear of his fortifications. The ad
vance was given to General Coulter, the other
two brigades marching in near support. Across
33*
390 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
the road, and in a position to defend all its ap
proaches, was a rebel battery of four guns and a
strong line of infantry. Against this force the
division was pressing down, meeting in its ranks
a rapid and destructive fire, from which the troops
were at first disposed to shield themselves in the
woods on either side of the road. But the en
thusiasm of certain success carried them on
ward.
Coulter was handsomely sustained by Baxter,
and when the men of the Third Brigade shouted
over the taking of the battery whose terrible ex
ecution could be seen in the breaks in their
ranks, so near was the Eleventh to its old com
mander that not only did it join in the cheer, but
charging the enemy s line of infantry, Sergeant
H. A. Delavie, of Co. I, seized the flag of the
Thirty-second Virginia Regiment from its re
treating bearer, and waved it aloft over the
enemy s captured works.
A short distance beyond where the guns were
taken, Crawford connected with the First and
Second Divisions, and without halting for an in
stant, the lines of the Fifth Corps, as they bore
down on Five Forks, moving through the rifle-
pits and over the intrenchments of the enemy,
swept them clean of everything dressed in gray.
Crawford s Division lost three hundred in
killed and wounded, Ayres s Division two hun
dred and five, Griffin s Division one hundred and
THE LAST MARCH OF THE FIFTH CORPS. 391
twenty-five, in all six hundred and thirty-four
men. But the enemy s right flank was com
pletely broken, leaving between five and six thou
sand prisoners in our hands; the Fifth Corps
alone capturing over three thousand men, with
their arms, eleven regimental colors, and one
four-gun battery with its caissons. Seven o clock
P.M., camp-fires were burning in every direction,
around which gathered groups of men, jubilant
over the successes of the day. Retracing its
steps over the line of battle, the Fifth Corps
bivouacked at night on the White Oak road,
near Gravel Iv Run Church.
CHAPTER YIH.
THE LAST MARCH OF THE FIFTH CORPS.
THE second day of April was Sabbath a
bright, clear day. Called from their bivouac
near Gravelly Run Church, whose closed doors
reminded us of the wicked times upon which we
had fallen, the two divisions of Crawford and
Griffin, turning their backs upon Five Forks, at
an early hour in the morning were marching in
the direction of Petersburg, to open communi
cation with the main body of the army on the
right.
392 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
The enemy was found in strong position di
rectly across our path, at the junction of the
White Oak and Claiborne roads. Miles s Divi
sion of the Second Corps, sent to reinforce Sher
idan, and that marched in front of the Fifth
Corps, at once opened the attack on the enemy.
Before the lines of Crawford and Griffin could
be formed, General Humphreys, with the rest of
the Second Corps, moved down from the right.
The connection with the right of the army was
now complete, and leaving Miles to act with his
own corps, Sheridan countermarched the Fifth
Corps to Five Forks, and crossing Hatcher s Run
by the Ford road, reached the Southside Railroad
without opposition.
A thousand caps went swinging into the air as
the troops crossed that great thoroughfare of the
Confederate army. The men believed that they
had now reached the objective point of the cam
paign, and with willing hands awaited the order
to unsling knapsacks, and commence the work
of tearing up the railroad. But instead of a
halt, the march was continued at a quick step
up the road toward Petersburg. Then, obliqu
ing to the left, and still marching on across
Chandler s Run, late at night the Eleventh biv
ouacked in line of battle north of Sutherland
Station, the right of the regiment resting on
ISTamozine road, and connecting on the left with
the rest of Baxter s Brigade.
GENERAL WARREN RELIEVED. 393
The absence of General Warren from the
head of the column, a8 it filed out into the
White Oak road, early in the morning, was the
first intimation to the troops that the general
had been relieved of the command. With the
splendid achievements of General Sheridan fully
acknowledged, and with an admiration of his
dashing soldierly qualities second to none, the
men of the Fifth Corps have never forgiven him
for his hasty action toward their well-tried com
mander.
The successes that followed the victory of Five
Forks a victory which belongs as much to
Warren as to Sheridan and that culminated in
the surrender of General Lee, sunk out of sight
many things that might otherwise have come to
the surface. Regarded at the time as a freak of
temper rather than the dictate of calm and sober
judgment, the removal of General Warren re
mains to this day without the justification of
reason or expediency.
The enemy that we knew to be behind the line
of earthworks in front of our bivouac, slipped
away during the night, and on the morning of
April 3d the Fifth Corps, commanded by Gen
eral Griffin, moved out with its accustomed
promptness.
Too busy with the exciting contest in our im
mediate front to hear the guns that had opened
all along the front of Petersburg, it was not
394 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
until this morning that we knew of the success
ful storming of its outer defenses, and the com
pression of our lines around the city. It was
while the men were waiting for the order to fall
into ranks, that a deep and prolonged cheer
came rolling along the line of troops, like the
swellings of a tornado, telling that Petersburg
and Richmond were both evacuated, and that
the whole rebel army was in precipitate retreat
toward Danville.
If the quartermaster had gone through the
ranks of the Eleventh, and, taking up all the
sore feet and stiffened limbs, had issued to each
man of the regiment a new pair of legs, they
could not have marched forth with a more
supple step. The roads over which we moved
were the same, in their make-up, that we had
been traversing for four long and wearisome
years swamps and woods, varied only by woods
and swamps. That day, too, we were marching,
at a dog- trot, after Merritt s cavalry; but all fa
tigue was gone. From his place in the ranks
each private soldier could see the end of the re
bellion in the capture of Lee s retreating army:
and toward that point everything was now made
to bend.
Ten o clock at night we bivouacked at Deep
Creek, with the Appomattox River not far to our
right. Scores of stragglers from the Southern
army, and multitudes of contrabands, who had
BIVOUAC AT DEEP CREEK. 395
lost their masters, had fallen into the moving
column during the day. Gathered around the
camp-fires that the chilly night-air still made
pleasant and agreeable, the events of the passing
hours were discussed with an interest as absorb
ing as cabinet ministers could discuss them.
An hour later most of the men had stretched
themselves on the ground to sleep. Walking up
and down through the ranks of prostrate forms,
we found ourselves not alone wakeful with the
thoughts of the past and the promises of the fu
ture. With heads toward the fire lay huddled
together a group of darkies, all on terms of the
most friendly intimacy. We came upon them,
unobserved, and waited a moment to listen to
their talk.
"I feels better to-night than I did after that
fight at Gettysburg," said one, whose voice was
at once recognized. " That was a mighty warm
place, I tell you. It seemed to me as if I d
never git away from thar. I felt as if I wanted to
pray, but de colonel s Jim was thar, and de doc
tor s Andy, and I didn t like to let em see me.
Then the shells begin to come faster than ever,
and dey seemed to say as plain as anything,
H-a-r-vey! H-a-r-vey!! So I stretched myself
square on de ground, jist as I m laying now, and
I said low to myself, 0, Lord, if you please, do
de very best you can for Harvey. Jist then I
heard an awiul hollering. Andy said, * do John-
396 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
nies is gitting whipt; and it was. all true. I felt
good then; but I feels a heap better now."
Daylight of April 4th the Fifth Corps was
again on the move. The cavalry had divided
into three separate columns, and were pushing
forward to harass the flank, and cross the front
of the retreating Southerners. It was the same
hurried mirch to-day as yesterday; and not until
the head of the column crossed the Richmond
and Danville Railroad at Jetersville, sixteen
miles from the place of starting, was the bard
day s work completed.
Throughout the day of April 5th Griffin s
Corps remained intrenched at Jetersville. Ame
lia Court House was five miles to the northeast,
and already in possession of the Confederate ad
vance. o!s~ext day, turning westward, General
Lee marched with rapid haste for Farmville, in
the desperate endeavor to place the Appomattox
River between himself and his eager pursuers.
It was on this morning that Sheridan turned
over the Fifth Corps to General Meade. It had
followed the cavalry for three days, keeping up
with the troopers in all their long and hurried
marches, and watching at night in the same line
of battle, or resting in the same bivouac.
The Sixth Corps was now pushed to the front.
Moving one day on the flank of the army as far
to the left as Prince Edward Court House, and
the next day hanging on the rear of the retreat-
GENERAL LEE SURRENDERS. 397
ing rebels, April 9th the Fifth Corps halted at
Appomattox Court Honse.
The 9th day of April, 1865, was Sabbath; just
such a calm, clear day as the one that preceded
it, on which we moved out from our bivouac
near Gravelly Run Church. The two armies of
Grant and Lee were at last together, with only
the little town of Appomattox between them.
But there was no deploying of skirmishers, or
movements of divisions into lines of battle, or
unlimbering of cannon. The army of General
Lee had surrendered; and in a small house,
plainly seen low-squatted within a green inclos-
ure, and before whose door an orderly on horse
back still held the white flag brought in by Gor
don and Wilcox, Grant and Lee were settling
the terms of capitulation.
34
398 STORY OF THE REGIMENT.
CHAPTER IX.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
THE great work done, and well done, the lines
of the victorious Federal army began to draw
away from the scenes of the surrender, leaving
the Fifth Corps behind to carry out the terms
of the capitulation and to take charge of the
public property. We confess to a feeling of
loneliness, as with the disappearance of the last
brigade over the hill that bounded our view, the
notes of fife and drum, every moment growing
fainter, were heard no more.
But the morning came when the spoils of war
were all secured, and the last Southern soldier
paroled. Then the bugle sounded the order to
march. It was the homeward march. One look
at the beautiful country around the head- waters
of the Appomattox, and, with faces once more
toward Richmond, the column moved forward,
first to Farmville, and then along the Rich
mond and Danville pike to the banks of the
James. As we crossed the river, Belle Island
was in full view, bringing an angry look to the
eyes of the men, that at last expressed itself in
derisive cheers, as they marched by the doors of
Libbv Prison and Castle Thunder.
IN SIGHT OF WASHINGTON. 399
The day before the evacuation of Richmond,
the only remaining prisoners confined in Libby
were sent down the river for exchange. Among
these was Captain James T. Chalfant, of Co. F,
captured at the battle of the Wilderness, May
5th, 1864. After nearly a year s experience in
the prison-pens of Lynchburg, Macon, Charles
ton, Columbia, and Charlotte, twice making his
escape, and each time recaptured, the captain
was the last Pennsylvania!! to leave Richmond
as a prisoner.
Richmond was now in the rear, and moving
over the Peninsula, across the Chickahominy
and the Pamunkey, and then across the Rappa-
hannock at Fredericksburg, we
" Nightly pitched our moving tents
A day s march nearer home ;"
until one evening, in the last hours of sunlight,
the troops looked down from Hall s Hill upon
the City of Washington, smiling at the return of
peace, but sad and stricken over the death of
Abraham Lincoln.
After a few days of rest and quiet came the
grand review of the armies of Meade and Sher
man by the President of the United States, the
Secretary of War, and General Grant. Then
followed the work of disbanding; and the ranks
of the Federal army were scattered from Maine
to Minnesota, each true volunteer forgetting the
400 STORY OF THE REGIMENT. -
calling of the soldier in the more peaceful duties
of the citizen.
As the State capital had been the rendezvous
of the departing regiments, so it now became the
gathering place of those returning from the war.
Its best friends would hardly have recognized
the old Eleventh, so changed was its organiza
tion, had not General Coulter and one or two of
the original staff officers remained to prove its
identity. One of its field officers-^Major I. B.
Overmyer and most of the line officers had been
promoted from the ranks. Even the drummer
boys had grown up to be men, and came back
wearing sword and epaulets.
Those promoted out of our ranks, as well as
those in them, did valuable service wherever
they were placed. Col. II. A. Frink, of the One-
hundred-and-eighty-sixth Regiment, afterward
breveted brigadier- General, will be remembered
O O
as the efficient provost-marshal of Philadelphia.
Assistant Surgeons AY. C. Phclps and W. F. Os-
borne whose places were filled in the regiment
by Drs. John M. Rankin and Charles D. Fortney
became surgeons; the former of the Twenty-
second Pennsylvania Cavalry, and the latter of
the One-hundred-and-seventeenth Infantry Regi
ment.
Awaiting our arrival in Harrisburg were men
who had been absent from the regiment on de
tached service, or sick in hospital, sent forward
CAMP CURTIX. 401
to be mustered out of service with their several
companies. There were also a few returned from
the prisons of the South, among whom were
Captain A. G. Happer, of Co. I, and Lieutenant
Freeman C. Gay, of Co. K. Captain Happer
was severely wounded, and fell into the hands
of the enemy at the "battle of the Wilderness.
Lieutenant Gay was captured at Gettysburg,
and remained nearly two years a prisoner.
More than three thousand men were enrolled
in the ranks of the Eleventh daring the war.
Less than three hundred marched back to Camp
Curtin for final discharge. Many of the absent
ones, who had been sent home because of dis
ease, or the severities of the campaign, or of
honorable though disabling wounds, could have
answered to their names. had there been a calling
of the roll. But the rest are filling graves scat
tered from Gettysburg to the Appomattox, from
Annapolis to Andersonville, and will only answer
"When the general Roll is called."
The Story of the Regiment is not for them.
Its pleasant memories or sad reminiscences of
marches and bivouacs, and of battles fought and
victories won, are only for the living.
"On fame s eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread;
While glory keeps, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead."
THE END.
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